Bargaining Undead
by Pixelframe
Summary: An AU set in season 6 where Buffy is brought back from the dead as a creature of the night. Ongoing story includes Spuffy and other pairings in later chapters. Buffy/Spike Buffy/Angel Willow/Tara
1. Awakening

_A/N: What if the resurrection spell went all wrong and Buffy came back as a blood sucking vampire? A prompt by BellaVision set in an AU at the start of season 6 Bargaining part 2._

_Feedback is appreciated! Joss owns all characters._

_Rating: T_

_Pairings: Buffy/Spike, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Tara, these will develop more in later chapters_

* * *

**Bargaining Undead - Chapter 1**

* * *

**Awakening**

_Every decision has a repercussion. We tend to choose the one that has the latest best-before date._

Willow leaned against a wide tree trunk in the dark forest. "Xander...wait a sec," she said gasping for breath. The ritual had left her body drained and she was suddenly regretting not eating that last peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Xander was supporting her by the arms and he looked at her with a big brother look of concern. "Don't worry, I just need a breather. That spell really knocked the wind outa me," she said understating the fact.

Even at night, she could see that handsome face start to edge into a frown. "You wanna tell me what the heck that was?" he whispered. "You do remember a giant snake crawling out of your mouth right? Because I remember it quite vividly. The cuts on your arms," he took a hold of her arms and turned them up showing her the large gashes. "What happened Will? I mean, did you know this was going to happen?"

Willow looked down at her arms but didn't show any sign they were bothering her. As strange as it sounds, her body was at an even pain level which meant no part of her was hurting more then another. She hadn't figured out if it was a good thing or not, but then again, her mind was focused elsewhere. "Did it work? Is she..." she asked hopefully, looking into his eyes.

Xander slowly shook his head.

The sound of a motorcycle rumbled in the distance and they quickly ducked down. "Don't these guys have anything better to do?" he said seeing headlights in the far bushes. "I can't imagine riding bikes in a forest is something at the top of their to-do list."

"Buffy Bot," Willow muttered. The robot was probably being torn to pieces but it felt like it was the real Buffy. A result from the hours of building and programming the metal Buffy to be just like the real one or at least close to her. She stood up pushing on his shoulders. "Let's go, we have to try again," she said flatly.

His head spun upwards. "What?" he whispered loudly. "Don't you think there's enough crap to worry about right now? We need to get to the others, make sure they're safe." Willow was staring into nothingness not listening to what he was saying. "Willow." He took her by the shoulder. "We'll try another way, we'll bring her back, I promise. Just not now."

She looked at him, her face devoid of expression. "Tara and Anya are waiting," she said walking away as if her pain had gone. Xander paused for a moment staring after her in confusion and then followed.

. . . . .

_Why is everything changing so fast?_ Warm light was fading away. In an instant, Buffy was spiralling through a hole. Grey mist was swirling in circles around her and the air was becoming very cold. _I can't think. _The mist slowly faded and she found herself in complete darkness lying flat on her back. She felt around with her hands soon realizing she was in a rectangular box, and that was never good thing.

_Oh god the smell._ Her mind was clouded as if she was dreaming. She touched something soft above her, a fabric of some sort and she grabbed it with her fingers and ripped it away. _Get out, I have to get out._ Normally when someone is trapped in a tight space, they find it very hard to breath. Fortunately for Buffy, she no longer had to.

She had not realized it yet but even so, it was still a suffocating predicament. After getting past the fabrics, she felt something smooth like wood. She smashed it with her fists. Her super strength was still plentiful enough to break through but at the cost of the skin on her knuckles. _Don't stop._ Small granular objects were falling down on her and the rotting earthy smell was suddenly stronger now. She broke away the wood to make room for her head, and she furiously dug her way upwards.

Her hand broke through and she felt the cold wind of the surface. She pushed through with her other hand grabbing the surrounding grass and mud and pulled herself out. _I was underground?_ She was exhausted, her hands and legs were throbbing with pain. _Familiar...the air, this pain, is it real?_

She made a circular scan of the dark forest and her eyes came to a rectangular stone sticking out of the ground. She squinted to read:

_Buffy Anne Summers_

_Devoted Sister, Beloved Friend_

_She saved the world_

_A lot_

Her eyes widened in shock and she began shaking. _What...oh god I'm..._

Her head spun to the sounds of screaming and the growling from a machine. She stumbled away from her grave not realizing her skin was paler, her hair was no longer blonde, and she was three inches taller.

. . . . .

Sunnydale. Car windows smashed, the buildings were on fire and a demon riding a motorcycle had nearly run Buffy over from behind. _It's so barren. I'm dead aren't I. This is my afterlife, the end of the world. Do I have to save it again? Am I going to do this for all eternity? I can never die like a normal person. _Her feet were beginning to ache and she looked down only realizing just then she was wearing black heels and a long black dress. She kicked off the shoes without much care for where they landed.

She heard muffled voices in the distance. It was a man's voice that was somewhat familiar. Buffy put a hand to her dizzy head. _Why can't I think straight?_ She stumbled closer to the voices until she could understand their words.

. . . . .

"Dawn, pass it, the head," Spike beckoned.

"I really don't think she's repairable, she's in like, five pieces. And anyway, the head is attached to the body so instead of me bringing it to you, how about you bring the limbs to me," Dawn said.

He sighed, "Fine, whatever. You sure Willow can't patch her up? Dawn?" She was staring in the opposite direction looking a bit frightened. "What are you," he looked in the same direction seeing a woman in a black dress walking towards them although not very gracefully. She had dark brown hair and ghostly pale skin. His eyes widened, "What the bloody hell?" he gasped.

It was Drusilla. Spike stood up from his crouch and slowly walked towards her. She stopped and stared at him but she didn't have the usual expression Spike would expect. She looked terrified and uncertain as her arms shifted to wrap her body insecurely. He looked directly into her eyes, but she turned her head away. He was staring at her for what seemed like a whole minute.

"Uh Spike," Dawn spoke, "what's going on?" She took a gulp of air seeing the blood on Drusilla's knuckles.

Spike appeared to see the same thing but he looked more concerned. "Dru where, I thought you were in L.A.," he gently took a hold of her hands and studied them, "What happened to your hands?" Drusilla didn't respond. She was looking at the ground where the Buffy bot was lying in pieces. The head of Buffy happened to be positioned so it was staring directly at her. Drusilla's expression turned to panic.

"It's just a robot," Dawn said, "not the real Buffy." But the sight seemed to have frightened Drusilla and she turned to run away.

"Wait!" Spike grabbed her shoulder. "Dru."

"Stop calling me that," she snapped.

Spike let go of her shoulder. He was utterly confused.

"Wow, and I didn't think she could get any crazier," Dawn said watching the vampire walk aimlessly down the road.

Spike shot her a disapproving glance. "Stay close Dawn."

"You expect me to follow miss loony toon?"

"No, I expect you to follow _me_."

Dawn didn't want another patriotic speech about loyalty to big sister so she submitted. They walked side by side down the street following the woman in black.


	2. Black Eye

**Bargaining Undead - Chapter 2**

* * *

**Black Eye**

"Are you the spawn of hell sent to annoy me or something?"

Spike gave a baffled look. "Um, no." He grabbed her arm, "If you'd stop for just a second Dru and explain to me—"

"Why do you keep calling me her? I'm not." Buffy was extremely disturbed. She was obviously in some hell dimension that was trying to torture her by making everyone think she was that lunatic vampire Drusilla.

"You are." Spike realized that the logical approach was not going to work on his ex. "Will you just stop," he said losing patience and he tugged on her arm a little harder.

She whipped her gaze at him and leered. "I – Am – Buffy. Buff – Ee. Do you have eyes? Do you see the blonde hair?" She grabbed some locks on her shoulder and held them at his face. But her eyes widened in shock to see her hair was a dark brown. _No no no! What is this? It's a nightmare!_ She touched her face in a panic, feeling her cheeks and mouth, and finally her forehead. _Well at least I have no ridges. Yet._ "If this is your idea of torture, it's a really sad attempt!" she shouted to the sky.

Spike figured something extremely bad must have happened to her to make her _this_ crazy. "Okay _Buffy_," he said playing along, "Did someone try to hurt you, did someone cast a spell on you?"

She was tired and frustrated, "I'm dead!" she shouted to the air. "Fine! Whatever! Have your way with me you demon! But don't expect me to wallow in fear and beg for the pain to stop because it aint happening!" She looked at him with narrowed eyes. "So, what torture game we playing first?"

Spike nervously put both hands on her shoulders. "You . . . need to come with me. When's the last time you've had blood to drink?" he said looking concerned.

"Blood? Vampire. Well since I'm in hell I might as well give it a go." She looked at the girl standing behind him. "Dawn?"

Spike moved to block her sight of the girl. "No, love, we don't feed on our sisters."

"I wasn't going to eat her," Buffy spat. "You know, even though she isn't real, she still looks like my Dawn."

The words stun Dawn and she looked to the ground. Spike shoved Drusilla forward. "It isn't safe out here. We'll hide in my crypt."

Buffy laughed, "You're going to hide from the biker demons? Wow you're even more pathetic here than up there." She started walking ahead of them with heavy and careless steps.

"What reality is that girl processing?" Dawn whispered. "She never talked like that before. It was always more, metaphoric."

He gazed after Drusilla. "I know what you mean. Hey," he lowered his head to level with hers, "you alright?"

"Yeah," she smirked, "I guess something reminded me of my past life as a key and I . . . It's all past me now, no big deal."

He returned the expression feeling glad she was showing signs of growing up. "Let's go. Maybe being inside the crypt will bring back her memories of our time together—killing people and stuff," he added quickly.

"Yeah," Dawn said sarcastically, "good times."

. . . .

"What now?"

Anya's words ran deep into Willow's mind ripping away what hope lingered inside. _What do I do now? The urn was destroyed, the last urn of Osiris. Nothing. I can't do anything to bring Buffy back now._

Xander slammed a fist on the cashier counter of the Magic Box, startling everyone.

"Well, don't we go out and slay some bad demon guys like we always do?" Tara said scanning the room nervously for consensus. "Willow?" She gazed at the only person still maintaining her composure. Their eyes met but Willow said nothing.

"Alright," Xander said, "everybody grab something pointy or sharp enough for slicing off heads because we aren't going to stand around and let our town get taken over by the Hells Angels." He took a longsword from the cabinet for himself and handed a crossbow to Willow, which he set down on the counter from a lack of response. "Someone has to check on Dawn . . . and Spike—"

"What? We're splitting up? Well I call Xander. We will go check on Dawn and the two witches can poof away the demons. Right? I mean you're still strong enough to make them go back to the stink hole they came from right Willow?" Willow was clearly lacking any spirit or will to put up a fight at the moment.

"I'm feeling a little drained, but Xander's right. Maybe if we can kill the leader, the rest of them will scatter." Her eyes fell to the gashes on her arms from the ritual. They weren't as painful as they were really itchy. _I feel so weak._ She remembered reading a passage in an ancient text about a witch who could steal the life force of every demon she encountered, giving her limitless power in a world plagued with mystical creatures. It was a power she knew she could have for herself if she took the time to harness it, but for the moment, it would have to wait. _What I need right now is a quick pick-me-up._ She scanned the room and noticed a red orb gathering dust on top of a bookshelf. She looked at Anya, "Is that a blood stone?" Not waiting for a response, she walked over to the shelf and grabbed the stone. It was fairly heavy.

"Yes, meant to temporarily hold the power of a half breed demon," Anya looked at the others, "like if you were a demon and wanted to look completely human for a day so you could go on a date with some hot guy or girl—yeah this is what you would use." She gave Willow a curious look, "Why? I really don't see how that thing is going to help us. Unless you wanted to make the demon leader human so he's easier to kill, but the whole thing is really complicated and he'd probably kill you before you could finish the ritual. . ." Anya's words trailed away as she saw the orb explode in brightness in Willows hand. The witch's red hair was flailing wildly and her eyes were turning jet black. There came a high-pitched screeching sound and everyone in the room put their hands over their ears.

"What she doing!" Xander shouted but Anya only shrugged and shook her head.

Tara was staring at Willow in horror as a red and black swirls wrapped her body and then entered her mouth. "Willow!" She could feel the power, it was immense and it was now one with her lover. Tara felt the spiritual air, but she could not feel the presence of the sweet red headed girl anymore. Instead, a dark power, a sinister evil had merged with her.

"Wow," Willow gasped in exhilaration. There was another voice speaking at the same time as her, a deep demonic one. "I feel great!"

"Yeah well you _look_ like the exorcist girl," Xander said.

"Shut your hole you pathetic human," the demonic voice said overpowering Willows. "What? No—don't say that, shut up."

The three of them exchanged confused glances.

"It's the demon," Willow strived to speak, "the bastard is strong—trying to take my body." She was gripping her head so hard it looked like she was digging her nails into her scalp. "I'm in control! You will obey me!" The demon's voice was fading from speech.

Tara slowly crept towards her, noticing her demeanour was calming. Willow reached out and gently took Tara's hands and smiled. "It's good don't worry," the demon's voice was completely gone, "I'm in control of it now. Oh man does this feel great!" _As long as I stay focused, I can do it. I know I can. Just gotta stay focused . . . ._

Tara touched Willow's cheek and was looking very worried, "Willow what did you do?"

"What I had to," she said looking overjoyed.

"Where'd the orb go?" Xander muttered.

"So biker demons going to go poof now right?" Anya said.

"Not just that," Willow's smile widened, "I'm bringing Buffy back."


	3. Less than a Demon

_This chapter contains violence and coarse language._

**Less than a Demon**

Buffy touched the tops of gravestones as she walked through the cemetery staring blankly ahead. A gust of wind blew and sent shivers through her body. _Everything feels real. The grass between my toes, the air and the smells are so refreshing. If this is really hell, why aren't my limbs being torn off? Maybe it's just playing with me. Waiting until I feel happy and secure, then bam, I get staked through the heart, and I fall in a pile of dust. It would be poetic._

Spike was gazing at Drusilla from behind. Her slender body moved hypnotically under the moonlight. They had been inseparable. Killing and feeding on the helpless together, but then there was Buffy and his world wasn't so straight forward anymore. When she died, it left a hole inside of him. He could only wonder if having Drusilla back was going to fill the void.

"Spike."

"Huh?" He turned to Dawn who was walking beside him.

"Fifty seconds," she said smirking, "that's how long you were staring at her without blinking. Are you two going to get back together? Because you better warn me if you guys are gonna go on a killing frenzy again."

"I don't know," he raised an eyebrow, "it's none on your business anyway."

"Well, you've got one freaky taste in women that's for sure. I mean, she actually thinks she's Buffy, how nutty is that?" Her last words went unheard as Spike walked ahead pulling his coat off.

Buffy suddenly felt something soft fall on her back.

"You look like you're freezing." As he put the coat over her shoulders, his fingertips grazed her skin. She flinched and looked at him with uncertainty. He looked genuinely worried about her and it calmed her restlessness.

"Thank you," she muttered pulling the coat tighter around her chest. It was strange. Getting attention from Spike in the body of the woman he once loved passionately. Was this going to be her life now, to live in some alternate reality with a vampire she pitied and loathed in her past life? The thought frightened her, and she decided to avoid eye contact. "How long was I dead?"

Spike didn't know how to respond to the strange question. He assumed Drusilla was talking as her alter ego. "I guess news about the Buffy bot spread quickly."

_The Buffy bot? _Her memories of the events before she died were still a blur.

"Listen, whatever spell was cast on you to make you like this, I'm gonna fix it. I know a witch and she'll make you better again. You remember Willow? Bookish type, red headed girl. Well she's a bad ass wicca now. . ."

_Willow._

Memories of her best friend and the others were coming back to her in fragments. _Xander, Giles . . . I wonder where they are. I wish I could see them, but they wouldn't know who I was. Dawn doesn't realize it. She's afraid to even talk to me. If she's even real._

She heard a rumble in the distance that pierced the silence so harshly, it made her heart jump. A group of demons on motorcyles blared down the barren street howling and flailing pole-like objects above their heads. They drove over the sidewalk and onto the cemetery grounds heading straight for them.

"Dawn!" Spike shouted. "Take Dru with you and barricade yourselves inside!"

"You're going to take them all on?"

"Will you get going!" he said pulling her arm.

Dawn saw the crypt at a hundred paces away and started running towards it. She glanced at Drusilla, "Comon!"

_They are coming. They are coming to take me now._ Buffy remained standing, showing no fear of danger. She wanted to die again. She wanted to go back to the warmth and clarity of the place she was before.

"Dru will you get out of here!" Spike shouted running towards the bikers. He grabbed a fist-sized rock from the ground and threw it at the closest biker nailing him in the head and sending him crashing into a tombstone. In seconds, they were all around him, tearing up grass and growling like a pack of dogs. Two of the demons continued forward heading straight for Drusilla, one of them holding a bat. He swung and hit her in the face knocking her down. The pair laughed in amusement and were now chasing Dawn.

"You fucking bastards!" Spike jumped and tackled one of the surrounding demons to the ground causing the motorcycle to crash into another demon. He wrapped his hands around the monster's head and ferociously twisted, snapping its neck. The remaining demons were charging at Spike with weapons in hand. He grabbed the crowbar from his victim and faced them, ready to unleash his fury.

"Uh oh boys, I think the vampire's mad because we snatched his dinner!" barked one of them.

Buffy opened her eyes and immediately felt a painful throbbing through her face. Blood was streaming everywhere. Her head was spinning and her vision was completely blurred. She heard muffled screaming but couldn't focus on what direction it was coming from.

A demon was holding Dawn in the air by the neck. She kicked and clawed but his strength was overwhelming. His comrade was watching the sight with equal pleasure.

"H—elp! Drusil—BUFFY—" Dawn gasped.

_Dawn! _Buffy's eyes widened, and she sat up quickly. Stumbling to her feet, she wiped the blood from her face and started running towards the screams. She could barely keep herself upright she was so disoriented, but it didn't matter because her sister was calling her. She was calling Buffy.

The on looking comrade spotted the woman he had just knocked down, running at him with immense speed. "Oh so you want another taste of this?" He howled and revved his machine forward, priming his bat for another swing.

Buffy felt a burst of power suddenly flow through her, strengthening her muscles and feeding her every stride. She could see clearly now. The bat swung for her head but she grabbed it with both hands and pulled taking the demon down in a wild tumble until he lay flat on his back. He looked up and saw the face of a vampire staring down at him.

"N—no! Wait!" the demon cried. Buffy raised the bat and slammed it over his head smashing his skull.

Dawn was nearly out of breath and could feel herself blacking out.

"Aw, is that all the show you have for me?" the demon sneered. He was enjoying himself too much to hear the scuffling of feet behind him. The bat connected with the side of his jaw with a loud crack and he toppled off his bike releasing his grip from Dawn's neck.

"Dawn, are you alright?" Drusilla said placing her hands on her sister's shoulders. Dawn appeared hesitant to respond it first, but soon nodded, coughing uncontrollably.

"Look out!" Dawn shouted. Demonic hands wrapped around Drusilla's neck.

"Thought you had me huh? Now I'm going to choke the life out of the both of you. Nice and slow," he said licking the blood from his lips.

"Let go," Spike growled as he grabbed the demon from behind and threw him to the ground. He jumped on top of him and plunged a metal bar into his heart. Spike stood up and kicked the motionless body. "You two, alright?" he gasped.

"Yeah," Dawn breathed.

Spike knelt in front of Drusilla. "Damit Dru." He used the bottom of his white shirt and patted the blood from her face. He caressed her cheeks and smiled, "I'm not losing you again."

Buffy gazed at Spike. His face was battered and large gashes on his cheeks were streaming blood, yet there was love and compassion in his eyes. Even though it wasn't meant for her, she appreciated it all the same. The tenderness of it was sweet, and she smiled back. She couldn't pity him. She couldn't think of him as that heartless, soulless demon. Right then, at that very moment, he was almost a man.


	4. She's Buffy

**She's Buffy**

The night still loomed over the old crypt where silence had settled in the area for hours. The loud roars of motorcycle engines and their riders no longer saturated the air with fear and chaos. It seemed they had fled or grown weary of the small town, which harboured so much resistance. Demons and other creatures, who had found shelter inside Sunnydale's ignorant walls, felt a sense of obligation to defend their small home and its strange balance of good and evil. Houses were a blaze and streets were littered with torn garbage bags and broken bottles. From under beds, inside cupboards and basement holes, the humans were beginning to come out of hiding. With the absence of the otherworldly creatures, police and firefighters were soon on the streets, organizing town wide clean up and rescue. The community was functioning again, only no human would admit what they really saw. Life would go on. The day horned demons invaded their town, would be downplayed as the day law breaking hoodlums rebelled against society.

The crypt was cold and musty. Most of the furniture was stone, which didn't leave a comfortable place to sit unless one counted the couch that looked like it was taken from the street curb. Buffy was sitting upright on the flattened cushion with knees curled up against her chest. She was rubbing her cold feet and noticed her toenails were painted black. It wasn't as big of a shock as realizing her fingernails were too. Dawn stood across from her with arms crossed, leaning back against the wall. A candle rested on the table in front of her flickering from the wind that found its way through the cracks in the crypt walls. She stared at the candle in deep thought making Buffy wonder if her sister was starting to believe.

Dawn's lips thinned as she gazed at Drusilla. "It's the same one Buffy was buried in," Dawn said, the words catching in her throat.

Buffy felt a tight wire loosen inside and she half smiled. "Sorry, I kinda ruined it," she looked down at the mud stains on the gown and tried to rub them off. "Most of this is from when I dug out of— from when I woke up."

Spike sat down beside her holding a mug of warm blood in each hand and exchanged glances with Dawn. He handed Drusilla a cup, which she reluctantly accepted. She sniffed it and then stared at it unpleasantly.

"This isn't human blood is it?"

"Well yeah? Now that my chip is gone, human is back on the menu," he said taking a sip of his drink.

"What?" she said in a high-pitched voice. "How—did you torture another doctor? Bad Spike." She wanted to be serious, but something inside her just wouldn't allow it.

"Oh god," Buffy could detect the glee in Dawn's voice, "the things she knows, it has to be. It's Buffy. I can't believe it!" Her face lit up brightly and she jumped on the couch beside her sister who suddenly felt like a squished sandwich. "I called you—I must have subconsciously known it was you." Dawn looked into her eyes and smiled reassuringly. She was looking at Buffy as if the mask of Drusilla didn't exist. "Can you breath? Are you breathing?" she asked eagerly.

"Am I whating?"

"What's it like, being a vampire? Buffy?"

Spike gently pulled Buffy's soldier so that the two of them were facing each other. He looked curious at first, studying her closely for what seemed like a whole minute. Then his expression turned to joy and disbelief. His voice came softly, almost a whisper. "Buffy, it's you isn't it?"

Buffy pulled away from his gaze, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "It's me," she announced smiling, "only in the body of your two hundred year old girlfriend. Lucky me." Buffy couldn't hide behind Drusilla's face anymore. She was exposed to Spike and could only wonder if he was reflecting over everything that had happened between them that night.

Dawn ran her fingers through Drusilla's Victorian hair style. It was combed back into a round ball at the top with long, straight strands falling down from it. "You also inherited the bumpy forehead and pointy teeth." As she spoke, Buffy scrambled to feel her face. "Not now," Dawn giggled, "I mean when you were fighting those demons."

"Oh, so that's what being a vampire is like. Huh, felt good."

"Well, it's safe to assume you're going to be on a blood diet. Until we can figure out what the bloody hell is going on," he gestured to the mug Buffy was holding, "Drink up."

"Are you kidding me? You're not making me drink this," Buffy rebelled. "I want a hamburger. A good old-fashioned, blood not included, hamburger."

Spike sighed and Buffy could sense a How-To-Be-A-Vampire lesson coming on. "Human food won't satisfy the craving. Eventually, you'll be wanting to grab someone by the neck—"

"You got that right," Buffy said putting down the cup. "Hamburger. Now."

"Hey Buffy, let's go home. I think those biker demons left town. I'll make you some pancakes, or French toast or – or spam! Spam sandwich, mmm, just as good as a hamburger," Dawn said holding Buffy's arm. "Oh and I'll call everyone over so you can see them! They'll be so happy to see you alive Buffy! It might take some getting used to, but we'll fix everything and things will be back to the way they were." She beamed with happiness as she wrapped her arms around Buffy and squeezed.

Buffy closed her eyes in the loving embrace and put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Oh Dawn. You know I could never say no to spam." They exchanged smiles.

Spike gazed after them grinning. Buffy was alive, sitting on his couch. Why she looked like Drusilla he didn't know, but, in the end, he didn't care. She was in his world again tugging his emotions in every direction. She was all that mattered. Was his life going to get complicated and confusing? Probably. He was sure of one thing though: he was happy, the happiest he ever felt in his life.

There was a shuffling of feet outside and the three of them turned around to face the doorway. Several people were muttering, but the voices were too muffled to be recognized. A palm quickly banged on the door three times.

"Dawny you in there?"


	5. Evil Behind the Door

**Evil Behind the Door**

She patiently waited for a response or a scurry of footsteps behind the door but neither came. She turned her gaze back to the others who were tightly cross-armed with shoulders hugging their necks. The guy, who hadn't said a word to his best friend for the past hour, wrapped his large arms around Anya and rubbed her body to keep her from chattering like a teeth toy.

"God, why is it so fricken cold out here?" Anya wailed. She turned to the man holding her. "Xander give me your sweater."

He released her and started stroking his chest as if he was expecting hands to tear his warm sweater from it. "Wha—but I . . . only have a t-shirt undern—"

"Do you want me to freeze to death? You're a man. A man's supposed to sacrifice his things for his woman." She paused. "Soon to be, of course, your lawfully weh—"

"Anya!" Xander scolded.

Willow was staring at them, but her mind was elsewhere. The grave in the forest she came to before coming here had a giant whole in it, which could only mean one thing. Buffy was alive. Her heart thumped in exhilaration. Buffy was probably scared and disoriented. She had to find her.

She had absorbed the power of a demon for nothing it seemed and the silent treatment coming from Xander along with Tara's stares of worry and disapproval were making her regret what she had done. Fortunately, the sheer power coursing through her was strong enough to burry that pathetic emotion. It felt like her abilities had increased twentyfold, a level where she no longer needed incantation. The thing that worried her the most was not knowing how long this magic would last. She needed a way to make it permanent. In order to do that, she had to let loose the demon inside.

Tara shrugged. "Maybe they're back at the house."

"No, I can sense them. Dawn's in there with Spike." She saw Tara's lips shift and her gaze dart.

Willow felt another presence inside, but its soul was so conflicted. Its soul was so fragmented, that she couldn't identify it with anything. Although, she was pretty certain it wasn't human.

The door creaked open catching everyone's gaze. Dawn's head poked through the opening and a large smile lit up her face. "Guys! . . ."

. . . .

She let out a gloomy sigh as Dawn stepped outside and shut the door. Buffy turned and frowned at Spike who was standing beside her with his arms folded.

"Will you quite worryin? Dawn believes you, they will."

It sounded like Dawn was telling the others a grand story complete with exclamations and wild hand gestures she could only imagine. The shouts of the words "Buffy" and "WAM" put her at ease slightly, knowing her little sister wasn't going to miss out a single detail.

Buffy was staring at the cryptic door with her mind buzzing with questions: "What will they think?" "What will they say?" "Why did I come back?" "What do I do now?" Everything was so overwhelming that she didn't have time to figure anything out by the time the door opened. Buffy breathed deeply.

Dawn held the door open as Willow was the first to step through. Her red hair was short and curly, a look Buffy adored. Her eyes were wide, her pupils were oddly large and her mouth was a thin line, an edgy expression that made Buffy even more nervous.

Buffy timidly smiled to bring levity to the moment as her eyes locked with Willow's. There was an awkward silence as everyone gathered inside the crypt exchanging glances that were joyful and confused at the same time. The uneasy feelings inside Buffy immediately vanished as Willow leapt towards her and hugged her in a tight embrace.

Her voice came in a quiet ecstasy. "You're alive!"

The affection radiating from her friend was so immense that Buffy could only feel happiness. Her friend accepted who she was, what she came back as. Willow. It was really Willow. Buffy looked over her shoulder and saw Tara and Anya looking on sublimely. Xander was beaming as he walked over and removed his hands from his pockets to wrap his arms around her and Willow.

"Okay," Buffy said, "feeling a little squished now."

"Sorry," Xander said drawing back with a broad smile and eyes on the verge of watering.

"You're sure it's Buffy right? Not Drusilla pretending to be her so she can slit our throats at night?"

Willow spun around at Anya and gave her an appalled look. "Anya."

"What? I had to ask."

"It's Buffy," she looked back at her, "and I can prove it."

She closed her eyes while holding the tips of Buffy's fingers. Her red hair suddenly began to glow scarlet along with the rest of her body. Buffy saw the aura pass from her arms and envelop her own. It was a warm and fuzzy feeling. She suddenly felt like she was in two places at once, yet she was seeing the same thing in both bodies.

Her fragmented soul was revealing itself by Willow's will. Buffy was splitting into two ghostly images. One was Drusilla in the black gown with her dark hair flowing, the other was Buffy Summers in a white gown and her blonde hair shimmering. In a vibrant flash the images merged back into one and the glowing aura faded until only the essence of Drusilla was left.

Buffy let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"So why Drusilla?" Xander asked.

"I think . . . I've seen this before," Tara said but her voice went unheard to everyone except Willow.

"How come she came back wrong?" Anya jumped in. "You told us," she looked at Willow, "you promised us she'd be normal."

Buffy saw Willow jerk her head. Everyone looked at Anya and then at Willow. There was another awkward silence.

Spike who was standing quietly in a corner viewing the situation, unfolded his arms and leered at Willow. His voice was cold. "What, did you do." Willow opened her mouth to respond but it seemed she was lost for words.

"You did a spell didn't you?" Dawn said from behind everyone. "You guys kept it a secret, hiding it thinking we wouldn't understand." Her arms were crossed, her tone becoming very sour. "I can't believe you would do something like this. Any of you." She stared at the four of them who could only pass their guilty gazes to each other and the floor.

"Look," Xander said. "We did what we had to, to bring Buffy back—"

Spike gave a harsh laugh. "Oh! Listen to the marching drummer boy! Always doing whatever the witch tells him. You people don't care about anything except yourselves. Screw the consequences eh? As long as you don't have to feel so miserable anymore. And miss almighty over here. What forces did you tamper with? Have to sacrifice anything? Any_one_? You have no clue do you? What you've done to Buffy."

"I— I can fix it," Willow said in a panic. "I have more power now, I can make things right." She looked at Buffy whose eyes were lowered, her face wore a blank expression.

"No, you're not making things worse." Spike moved to intervene, standing in between Buffy and Willow.

"Back off." Buffy heard Willow's voice suddenly turn deep, almost demonic. Her pupils turned pitch black and she raised a hand and wrapped it around Spike's neck.

"Willow!" Tara shouted. She ran over and grasped Willow's outstretched arm. "Come back Willow. Come back to me," she begged.

Her eyes reverted back to normal and a soft gaze fell on Tara as she let go of Spike. Everyone was staring at Willow in shock, but it seemed none of her friends would dare speak out against her.

Spike went to move against Willow, but Buffy grabbed his wrist. It seemed he understood Buffy's intent. She couldn't handle the situation anymore, and he withdrew while rubbing his throat.

"Buffy." Dawn walked through the silent crowd and grabbed Buffy's hands. "Let's go home."

The both of them walked outside, leaving the others inside the crypt.

"Buffy." Her long brown hair glowed in the moonlight, and she hugged her big sister's arm as they walked through the grass. "Don't leave. I know it's going to be hard, but I'll be with you the whole way. So . . . just stay with me okay?"

Buffy pulled back Dawn's drooping bangs and curled them around her ear. She wanted to give comfort and simply say "okay", but she couldn't. Things could never go back to the way they were, if she remained in the body of a vampire. The friendships she had as the slayer would never be the same. Slowly they would all distance themselves from Buffy, and eventually she would fall on a dark path. A path where the only available guide was a man wearing a trench coat with a cigarette in his mouth.


	6. Still the Slayer

**Still the Slayer**

They both walked side by side down the poorly lit alleyway reminiscing about the past. It was the long way home, giving Dawn a chance to fill Buffy in on the life she missed while buried underground.

"It's great you know? Having them around. They aren't too picky about the things I do . . . come to think of it, they pretty much let me do whatever I want- oh not _whatever_ I want, you know 'cause Willow and Tara are really responsible. Did you know Tara makes delicious French toast? I'll ask her to make you some in the morning. Oh yeah, I bought a gerbil . . . ."

Buffy's hand stroked the arm of the coat she was wearing. Spike's scent, which was 20% musky and 80% cigarette smoke, was actually an alluring smell. Honestly, if this stuff was on the shelf, an uptown straight guy could smell like a bad boy without having to act like one. Spike Azzaro, the new fragrance by Azzaro. Buffy giggled.

"It's not funny Buffy!"

"Huh? What's not funny?"

Dawn looked confused. "My gerbil? Dying?"

"Oh . . . What happened?"

She sighed. "It got really fat. So when it crawled inside its play tube, it got trapped and suffocated."

Buffy stopped, her attention fixed on the silhouette of a man standing twenty paces in front of them.

"Well, well," a voice said from behind. Buffy spun around seeing another person stepping casually towards them. He was a black man wearing the clothes of a street punk and harboured a wide smile. "Don't you just hate them traps?" By the looks of them and the lack of weapons, Buffy could tell she was in for a vampire fight.

Dawn leaned back against the brick wall and crossed her arms. "You guys don't have a clue what you're getting into."

The vampire snorted. "Why is she the new slayer? Is the pretty girl in the pretty dress a slayer? Hear that Jed? I think we should be shaken in our boots."

Buffy remained perfectly still with eyes focused on him as he walked closer reaching out with a hand. He grasped her chin and scanned her features. "Such pretty grey eyes, or are they blue?" His smile faded and his eyes leered. "You remind me of someone." He paused. "You're Spike's girl aren't you?"

"Ex." The vampire named Jed said from his unchanged position.

"Yeah. Dru . . . sillla. Mind if I take your midnight snack over here, I'm starving." He gestured his head to Dawn who was still leaning smugly against the building wall.

Buffy was a bit curious to hear what else the vampire knew about Spike and Drusilla. After all, knowing more about Drusilla's life could have its advantages, especially if she needed to network in the vampire community. It was an interesting thought, but there were more important things at hand, like getting Dawn safely home. She smacked away the man's arm and instinctively went to perform a front kick which failed because her gown fell tightly around her legs. The vampire quickly took advantage and punched her in the face, knocking her to the pavement. She found it strange that she could not recover as quickly compared to her Buffy body. Her head was spinning as she heard Dawn yell her name.

"Turning on your own kind huh? Just like Spike. Stupidity's contagious, right Jed?"

Buffy gathered herself and made a short but hard kick to his shin then swung her fist upwards into an uppercut that connected with his jaw. He flew backwards in the air and landed hard but got up right away, his face wrinkled into a demon's. With great speed he ran towards her and started throwing a flurry of hooks that Buffy dodged, but not easily. Buffy could not keep up with his speed and eventually a fist knocked her sideways and she spun into the brick wall. She grabbed a man sized wooden board that was leaning against the building and smashed it over the vampire's head. He flinched as splinters of wood fell to the ground. Buffy spun around expecting the other vampire to join the fight, but he remained standing at a distance with his arms crossed. She turned back and saw a giant fist flying towards her face. She ducked to evade it and rolled across the ground while picking up a large wood splinter. With smooth transition, she flung her hand out releasing the splinter and it buried itself in the vampire's back. In a dusty explosion, he was gone.

Buffy's gaze swung to Dawn who was pointing down the alley way. "Buffy!"

Jed was charging at Buffy like a loosed bull. His body came into the dim lighting and she could tell this guy was double the size of the previous vampire, his white tang-top stretching around his large chest. With quick hands, she picked up pieces of broken wood and flung them at the charging man, but the pieces simply bounced off his chest. One piece nearly deflected into Dawn's face. He was close enough now that Buffy could see his wrinkled face, which held a humoured expression.

"Thanks doll. I always told him he'd get dusted if he didn't pay me back. Too bad it wasn't me."

Meters away in his charge, he lowered his arms and squared his left shoulder towards her. Buffy could have either dropped to the ground and tripped him or attempted to drive a wood spike through his face as it was the only vulnerable spot she could see. She knew she made the wrong decision when he accelerated in the final steps and struck her in the chest before she could impale him. The wind was immediately knocked from her and she went flying backwards into a pile of garbage bags.

"What's wrong Spike's ex? Not feeling the demon today?" He laughed harshly.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled. "You have to turn!"

Buffy shook herself and rolled out from the garbage. She grabbed the bottom of her gown and ripped it all the way to her thy. Standing up, she glared at the large vampire and started sprinting towards him. As good as it felt going into full vampire mode, she wanted to finish this without it. She wanted to do this as the slayer.

She ducked to the right, avoiding his hook and side kicked him in the chest. He stepped back to recover his balanced and swung his leg at her head. It was a surprising move coming from an upper body fighter and the force of his kick could have broken her neck, fortunately his movements were slow enough to read and she grabbed his leg with both hands. Kicking away his standing leg, he fell to the ground with a thud. She climbed on top of the giant and started punching his face ruthlessly.

"Here!" Dawn tossed a wood splinter at Buffy. She grabbed it and raised it above his chest. Giving a proper farewell quip was like second nature in the slayer business, but Buffy was in no mood to make vampire jokes. Jed was smiling at her and about to say something, but before he could, Buffy plunged the stake into his heart, and he disintegrated beneath her.

Buffy looked at Dawn, and Dawn looked at Buffy. She didn't have to let loose the demon inside to win. It didn't matter if her power was the slayer or the vampire but reduced in human form. The only thing important to Buffy was that she didn't have to resort to an greater power. A power that could forever change her human nature.

. . . . .

The nostalgia of seeing her home filled her with joy and anticipation of stepping inside. She would lie down in her warm bed and sleep, not having to think anymore. Everything would just go away, however brief the notion would be.

"Home," Dawn said sounding relieved. "Oh good, we didn't get robbed."

Buffy assumed she was referring to the lack of broken windows and fires that were observed for the other houses in the neighbourhood. Dawn walked up the front steps and then opened the door. She stepped inside and smiled, then beckoned her.

Buffy walked up the steps and looked through the doorway. It looked like they had gotten a new door mat, a flowery one. The smell coming from the house was like spring with hints of herbs like the ones from Willow's magical formulas. Buffy went to step through but she felt something push her entire body backwards as a strange sound vibrated in her ears.

"Buffy? What's wrong?"

She tried stepping through again but the same force pushed he back.

"Oh, um, I think I have to . . ." Dawn said losing her cheerful composure. "Buffy come in and let's have a big dinner," she said happily.

Buffy stepped through and closed the door gently.

. . .

She waved the hair brush in front of the mirror like it was floating on water. Not having a reflection was quite disturbing, but it was oddly amusing to see objects flying in mid air. Buffy's room was how she remember it. It was a small thing, but it did score her friends some brownie points. She set down the brush as Dawn walked through the bedroom door.

"Hey you." Dawn stood beside Buffy and looked into the mirror. "That's freaky." She paused. "So, you sleepy or did you want to take a relaxing bath? Or whatever you want. I think you need to get out of that thing though for obvious reasons," she said tugging at her gown. "That's strange. Didn't you tear the gown there?"

Buffy looked down at the area where she made a large rip in the black dress. It seemed it was no longer there.

"Yeah, I did. Wanna know what else is strange?"

"Huh, nothing would surprise me after today."

"I can't take off this dress."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Um, what do you mean?"

"Look." Buffy reached back and pulled down the zipper. She then proceeded to pull it off her shoulders but it was like the dress was glued onto her skin, it wouldn't come off.

Dawn grabbed the gown and tugged but to no effect. "Okay. Freaky."

"You ain't seen nothin yet."

Dawn gave a small whimper.

Buffy stepped back and then closed her eyes. She shook her head wildly for a good five seconds and then stopped, feeling slightly disoriented. Buffy's hair no longer carried the style from the Victorian era. The roundness at the top was gone, her hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, the tips forming inward curls. She looked at Dawn who continued to have a baffled expression. Buffy smiled and then shook her head again and stopped. The top of her hair was rounded as before.

"I don't know," Buffy started, "maybe it's more than just: me in Drusilla's body."

"I . . . it's late Buffy. Get some sleep. I'll talk to Willow and Tara about it when they get back." A smile broke through her bafflement and she gave her big sister a hug. "Good night."

As Dawn left the room and closed the door, Buffy moved to her bed and slid under the covers. There were more and more questions she was starting to ask herself and it was starting to give her a massive headache on top of the bruises on her face and everywhere else. She wanted Willow to find the answers, but after what happened back in the crypt, she wasn't sure how far Willow would go to find them. Her mind started to point all causes of her problems to Willow, but it seemed her mind couldn't handle anything else and she drifted to sleep. She dreamed, a very strange dream.


	7. Be Mine

**Be Mine**

The sun brightly shined through the kitchen window of the Summer's house as Willow made a clean diagonal cut through the bologna and mustard sandwich. She smiled at Tara sitting across from her at the island and pushed the plate towards her feeling particularly proud at how delicious she made it look.

"Oh sweetie." She paused and produced a curly smile. "It's perfect."

"Well you know, there's the bologna, mustard, lettuce, some . . . magic spices and a piece of cheese- not that processed stuff, it's all natural and stinky."

"Did you say magic spices?" She frowned shyly.

"Well yea. With that whole thing you have today, I had to make it extra special just for you."

"Will that's nice. But I would really prefer it if you didn't put magic in the things I eat." She didn't do well to hide the lecturing tone so she smiled again. "It might make my stomach all wonky."

"Are you angry because I used magic?"

"It's just, it's just that you're starting to use it for everything; for everyday stuff and it isn't right."

Willow snorted. "What's going to happen? The witch and warlock police are going to arrest me? Tara it's just magic; harmless magic."

Tara picked up half a sandwich and held it up in her palm. Her innocent smile was gone, replaced with a twisted sinister one. "Just magic?" Her fingertips wriggled teasingly around the sandwich and she spoke in a voice that wasn't her own. "The time is now, for heads to roll. Willow darling, are you ready for the power to take its toll? Your friends better run because I burn from within. The clock strikes six, so let this deadly game begin." In a fiery flash, the sandwich disintegrated in her hand and as the atmosphere around Willow started to change, so did Tara. Her head started to warp into a mangled shape as her mouth widened showing monstrous canine teeth. Her eyes became angled slits that were pitch black. The shrieking laugh that came sent chills through Willow's body.

Willow backed away from the horrifying sight but she was too frozen to do anything else. The demonic looking Tara lunged forward to wrap her hands around Willow's neck. With heart racing, Willow sat up, her eyes open to a dark room_. Thank god, it was just a. . ._ She looked to her right seeing the empty side of the bed.

Willow was breathing heavily as wet beads crawled down her back. After taking off her sweater, she laid back down and stared at the ceiling. The demon's rhyming words played through her head without much comprehension. She was starting to forget. _Time for heads to roll? Clock strikes seven? six? Something about a game . . . _Willow had a feeling the demon she absorbed from the blood stone had something to do with it. Maybe it was trying to get loose again. She looked at the digital clock to her left. It read 5:59. She waited a moment for it to strike six, expecting something to happen. _Don't be stupid it was just a nightmare._ The numbers changed to 6:00 and after a moment, she let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, something punched the center of her chest. The thumping got heavier and she grasped her chest in a panic. Her insides were burning, her lungs releasing hot air. She was losing control of the demon. She knew it, but there was nothing she could do to make it stop.

. . . .

The candle flames flickered against the stone walls as Spike put the cigarette to his lips. Just a moment ago, his crypt was full of people he couldn't care less for. Filling his peaceful room with their troubles; arguing over who was more of an idiot. The truth was: everyone including himself was an idiot. The only difference between them was how much idiocy they were willing to show. Buffy was in pain he could see that clearly. He planned to sneak over to her house and creep through her window. He just wanted to be with her, only he didn't know what he would say that wouldn't cause her to hurt even more. His hands touched the bottle of whiskey just as the crypt door creaked open.

"What's wrong love? Quarrelling keep you up all night?"

"No I- well yeah, Tara and Willow had a fight, but that's not why I left. I had to kind of sneak out of my window and jump off the roof so Dawn wouldn't think I was running away or anything."

"Right, because that's exactly what you don't do when you want to run away."

Buffy hugged her bare arms and looked to the floor.

"You, uh, wanna sit down?" He wiped the garbage from a stone bench and offered her the seat, which she accepted.

Neither said a word for about a minute when Buffy looked at him. "What do you see when you look at me?"

Spike frowned. "I see you Buffy. It's Drusilla's body, but you're inside it. There's no doubting that." He studied her bruised face and arms. "What happened?" He reached to touch her arm and was surprised when she didn't recoil.

"Oh. Vampire. Well two actually. Are steroids the new thing lately with you guys? One of them threw me ten feet in the opposite direction like I was a bag of groceries. Maybe it's just me but I honestly don't remember them being that strong. It's probably this body. A bit frail I think, no wonder Drusilla never wanted to fight me."

"Buffy." He sat down beside her and took her hands in his own. "You don't belong with them."

She looked confused. "I don't belong with who?"

"Buffy, you and I, we're the same now. You don't have to be afraid to be with me anymore."

Buffy stared at him for a moment then broke into laughter. "Are you serious?"

Spike got up from the seat feeling slightly hurt from her reaction.

"Well gee slayer, now that you're a vampire too come and be mine forever?" she said in an impersonating voice.

"Why do you do that?" he said sounding frustrated. "Why do you _always_ hide your feelings. I saw you, back in the graveyard. You felt something for me I saw it." He was practically shouting.

"It was a life or death situation, I was just happy that we made it through alive! Of course only you would see it as a romantic occasion."

"Don't you get it slayer? Look at yourself. You really think you can have a normal life with your friends? There will be no more going out to the park on a sunny day. You'll always be drinking blood from a coffee mug. Let's not forget you don't even look like Dawn's older sister."

"Still not seeing any reason why I should abandon my friends to live with _you_. And, hello, I only go to the park at night to slay vampires."

"What about college? A job? You can say goodbye to those."

Buffy got up, her calm and controlled expression of Drusilla's face mimicked Buffy's. "I don't know alright? But I am _not_ going to abandon my little sister for some pathetic love-sick vampire." She turned to leave and as she did, her black gown turned to pure white. Drusilla's hair fell softly on her soldiers and when she looked back to glace at him, she was glowing.

He stepped forward angrily to shout something hurtful back but the words faded. "Why did you come here?"

"I came here because," she paused and looked at the ground. "I didn't know what I was living for." She turned and walked out the door, closing it behind her.


	8. Some Things

**Some Things**

A midnight stroll through the graveyard was all Buffy needed to put her mind at ease. The past couple of nights were like winter in Canada, but today was the perfect weather for slaying. Wearing a black leather jacket over her irremovable white dress and a crossbow slung across her back, she felt like the Slayer who took on the Master many years before. Was she still that same person? It wasn't like she had a huge revelation strike her after coming back from death. She went back to taking care of her family and responsibilities as the Slayer. Only the warm fuzzy feelings she'd get from hanging out with the gang and the food cravings after staking a vampire all started to lose their effect. The vampire inside had changed who she was on a primal level. She was surprised she wasn't jumping people in dark alleyways for midnight snacks. The logical reason for that crossed her mind, but it didn't make her feel any better.

With her musing gaze directed at the ground, it didn't take long for something to jump her from behind.

"I've got you now Slayer!" shouted a man's voice.

Buffy felt his prickly teeth touching her neck as she struggled to get him off. Grabbing hold of his arm, she gasped loudly and leaned forward throwing him over her shoulder and onto the ground in a thud. The vampire scrambled back to his feet and dusted of his tacky, light blue business suit. He stared at Buffy in bewilderment.

"Hey!" he said frowning. "You're not the Slayer." He rolled his shoulders backwards. "Your face is different. You're not blonde either."

"Very keen observation."

"Man, you don't know how nervous I was." He was bent over with hands on his knees. "Taking on the Slayer would have probably been my last night as a vampire, but oh man, the reward that fellow is offering- I couldn't turn it down. That's me, always shooting to be the top player. No risk no reward right? Too bad though." He straightened himself and shot an index finger at Buffy. "Hey, what are you, some girl with too much free time on her hands? Ease off on the self defence classes for goodness sake and get into something profitable for yourself."

Buffy slowly shook her head in disbelief. "What, so instead of drinking people's blood ... you give them financial advice."

"Ah well." He flapped a hand at her. "Some things don't change even when you become a vampire. I used to be a financial advisor you know? Can't stop myself from advising others in the right direction. Just makes you feel good y'know?"

"Oh yeah, totally." Buffy half rolled her eyes as she grabbed the crossbow from behind. She pointed it at him. "I'm really not in a talking mood, so you know, if we could get to the punching and yelling- that would be super." She suddenly recalled something in the vampire's babbling. "Wait, did you say someone was giving you a reward for killing me?"

"Not you. The Slayer. Here I have a picture of her."

Buffy lowered the crossbow as he approached, clearly not interested in fighting her. He handed her a flimsy piece of paper. It read "Buffy Summers" in bolded font at the top and just below it was a profile picture of her in black and white. Below, it read "Blonde and feisty. Use extreme caution. Reward: Lots and lots of kittens and more."

"I don't think I'll ever understand demon currency," Buffy said. "Who is this guy?"

"Some Kungai demon, calls himself The Hand. He sure is tame for someone with horn on his forehead." He leaned closer to Buffy. "News of the bounty has probably hit all of Sunnydale and it's not just the kittens they want. There's talk The Hand has a special trinket that increases the power of the wielder by tenfold. If I were you little girl, I'd be hiding safe at home. It's going to get crazy around here."

Buffy was hoping she wouldn't have to worry about anything except her own ill fortunes. This obviously wasn't going to be the case. On the bright side, she looked nothing like that girl in the photo. Demons would could tear up the entire town and not realize the Slayer was right under their noses. Maybe that wasn't such a great thing. If it was common knowledge there was no Slayer in Sunnydale, things would get very bad. She couldn't let that happen.

Buffy handed back the picture. "You can tell your friends, and that hand guy, Buffy Summers is on vacation, and that I'm filling in for her as the new Slayer."

"You're kidding right? You're no Slayer-" Buffy grabbed his arm and viciously twisted it. "Ah! Okay! Okay!"

"Tell them the Slayer is alive and kicken and ready for whatever you morons dish out."

"Yeah! Y-you got it!"

Buffy released her grip, pretty confident he believed her words. He backed away slowly and then turned to run. But before he could get anywhere, Spike tackled him from out of nowhere and they crashed to the ground.

"Spike wait!"

But Spike was already in the middle of thrusting a wooden stake through his chest. It sank in and the vampire disintegrated into the grass.

"What the hell are you doing?"

He was smirking as he jumped to his feet. "God I haven't killed anything in so long."

Buffy was still staring at him waiting for an answer to her question, but then she realized that was the best answer she was going to get.

"What's wrong? Don't remember how to use a crossbow?"

"I would have used it if I wanted him dead?"

"Oh, so you wanted him alive then."

She glared back.

"Why?"

"I am trying to keep the balance between good and evil in this town."

"Uh huh."

"Never mind. Did you hear anything about some Slayer bounty by a demon named The Hand?"

"No."

Buffy sighed and then turned to walk away.

"Wait! Buffy..." He ran to her side and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

She stopped and turned to him with a look of irritation. "What do you want Spike?" She could tell what was on his lips and it was something she really didn't want to talk about again.

"Have you drank any blood yet?"

"You came here to talk about my diet?"

"I'm just worried. I don't know how long you can go without drinking blood before you starting hunting humans. Do you really want that on your conscience?"

She had to admit, the reminder of drinking blood was alluring to her senses and lately, her muscles were feeling weak and eating a whole meal wasn't making her full. An image of herself licking an uncooked steak flew into her mind and she shook herself. "I guess you're right. But don't for a second think this is some excuse for us to be together. It isn't. It's just something I have to do, right?"

"Yeah, I have some blood you can drink at home if you want."

"No. I...don't want Dawn or the others seeing me drink."

"Alright then. We'll drink together."

Buffy's gut was suddenly churning and the thought of taking a sip of blood from a coffee mug only heightened her craving, but the human in her was loathing it. She looked at him as they walked together, and she could see a hidden smile under his pale face.

"You were just kidding about not having that chip in your head anymore right?"

Spike grinned wide and licked his lips.


	9. Light and Shadow

**Light and Shadow**

"Morning sunshine."

"Mmm ... morning..."

"How about I bring up some bed breakfast?"

"Bed breakfast?"

"Breakfast in bed silly. I brought home some fresh strawberries I can cut in your cereal. I was in the grocery store and when I saw those luscious red berries, they reminded me of you."

Willow rubbed her puffy eyes and rolled over in her sheets so she was face to face with Tara. "It's not because you think I'm sour?"

Tara quickly shook her head. "Oh no." She laid a firm kiss on Willow's forehead. "You don't taste sour at all." She smiled.

"So you're not angry at me anymore?"

Tara looked away with a puzzled expression. "It feels like I should be mad at you but..."

"But what?"

"I guess I'm just too happy to be angry anymore."

"That's a good thing." Willow pulled the blankets snugly to her face. Her hands still smelt of magic weed.

Tara pulled back her bangs behind her ear. "Willow." Her head bowed timidly.

"What's wrong?"

"You didn't ... Did you..."

"Huh?"

"No never mind." Her face lit up happily like a light bulb. "Oh look at the time, shouldn't Dawny be up by now?"

"She's getting in a few extra Z's since Buffy wanted to drive her this morning."

"Buffy's driving?"

"Yeah."

"In the sunlight."

"Um. Yeah. There was this whole thing and- well I didn't want to argue with her."

"Oh. You think they're going to be alright?"

Willow waved her hand. "They'll be fine."

. . .

"Buffy, you look like an Arab woman."

Buffy shifted the black cover over her face so she could see the road better. As she did, the blanket fell away from her wrists and the sun caught her skin.

"Ow ow!"

"Careful!"

Buffy swerved the steering wheel to avoid a bike rider on the shoulder lane.

"Maybe you should have just let me walk."

"No Dawn. I'm driving you to school just like any _normal_ big sister."

"But-"

"Dawn-" The skin on her bare neck sizzled. She clenched her teeth to suppress the pain, but it felt like she was lying on a barbeque grill.

"Maybe we should get the windows tinted."

"God, how does Spike do this."

Buffy made a left at the light cutting off incoming traffic, and then drove beside the curve finally coming to a halt.

"Okay!" Buffy said happily. "Off to school. You need a pick up?"

Dawn cringed as she opened the door and then smiled. "No thanks, I'm good."

Buffy sighed, relieved she didn't have to go through the nightmare twice in one day. "You'll be home early?"

"Mhm."

Buffy watched Dawn wave to a group of friends, and they entered the school doors as the bells rang. She sighed again. _That wasn't so bad._ _It only feels like I stuck my hands in boiling water and got a sun burn all in 10 minutes._ Buffy eased the car back onto the road._ What's the next thing a circus freak like me should do? Oh yes chores. Maybe I'll visit Xander- oh no, he's probably at the construction site. Willow probably has class. Tara- I actually have no idea what she does or where she works. I should probably ask her sometime._ The thought of visiting Spike for a warm cup of ketchup crossed her mind. She shivered. _Yuck, come to think of it, I'd actually rather drink blood than ketchup, or even tomato juice._

A familiar boy entered her mind. He was just a few years younger than Buffy with a buzz cut and he wore a buttoned shirt, the usual attire one wears to a club. _He was probably a freshman because he smelt of cheap cologne and man, those were really bad pickup lines. I don't really know what happened. We had some drinks, we left the underground and we were walking down an alley. I grabbed his hand pulled him into a dark corner. _Buffy didn't notice her wrists steaming until the searing pain finally registered. She stopped the car in the middle of the road and pulled her gloves down over her wrists. Car horns sounded around Buffy and she stepped on the gas pedal again not bothering to look to see who it was because she wouldn't be able to anyway.

She pulled into the driveway of her home, and then checked to make sure fabric was covering all of her skin. She felt the warmth of the sun as she stepped outside and went to take deep breath of the fresh air but realized she couldn't.

Buffy closed the door behind her and slowly began unwrapping herself of her garbs until finally only her white gown remained.

"Hello Buffy," a man's voice said in an English accent.

Buffy looked across the living room seeing a familiar face wide eyed and holding a pair of glasses.

"Giles?" Buffy said breathlessly.

He was wearing a brown blazer with a blue collar and black tie. His mouth was slightly gaping but it still formed a smile. He approached her slowly as Willow and Tara came from the room behind him. Before Buffy could think of anything to say, Giles had already wrapped his arms around her. He smelt like old books with the faintest hint of cologne that brought back memories of scooby meetings in his old home.

"Buffy," he whispered, "you're alive."

Buffy gently pushed him from the embrace. She had seen that look on his face before. She saw it every time they had survived an apocalypse. Deep inside, Giles always felt like he would lose his Slayer to evil forces but when he would see her alright it was like a miracle happened before his eyes. Miracles they definitely were.


	10. The Forest Hunt

**The Forest Hunt**

_Run Xander run. Wait, what are you doing? You're supposed to be helping, not running away. You can do this. Okay, turn around on the count of three. One ... two ... three!_ Xander spun around gripping the hilt of his sword with both hands and saw the creature charging at him like a rhino on two legs. The ground shook as its thick hoofed feet pounded the earth at every stride. It had an enormous upper body covered with dark brown fur. Its hands, with three fingers each, appeared larger than Xander's head. Between its yellow glowing eyes, a long horn extended outwards, curved downwards and then curved back up like a giant fish hook. In its right grasp, it held a four foot long wooden mallet. Buckets of cold sweat poured down Xander's back. He was frozen, overwhelmed by the awesome beast charging towards him. A weak slap could have knocked the sword out from his hands.

Xander heard the snap of a crossbow and saw an arrow impale the creature in its thigh. It hopped staggeringly for a moment, but continued charging.

_"Amiculum!"_

A warm balm swept through Xander's body.

"Xander don't move!" Willow shouted.

His head swerved looking to see where her voice was coming from. He was standing on a dirt path and to either side of him was dark forest. Only moonlight revealed the creature, which was now slowing down and looking left and right as if it had suddenly lost sight of its prey. Xander's heart pounded as he edged backwards, his eyes locked on the demon. A huge burst of orange light flew through the air from Xander's right and struck the demon in the head in an explosion of spitting fire and crackling sound. The horned demon stumbled dizzily and dropped its mallet to the ground. It grasped its head with both hands and let out a groan of pain as a figure walked up to the creature in a calm confidence. It was Willow. Her hands glowed yellow and she raised them above the incapacitated creature to cast a finishing spell, but the demon jumped unexpectedly and rammed her hard in the chest. Grabbing its mallet, it smacked the ground, and in a deafening boom, the demon vanished leaving behind a white aura that soon faded.

Xander ran to Willow who was sprawled back first against a tree.

"Will! Oh god, are you alright?" He knelt beside her and placed his hand behind her head.

She moaned and then looked up at him. Her eyes widened. "Where'd it go?" she demanded eagerly.

"I don't know, it was here and then it vanished. How do you feel?"

"Like mashed potato."

"How come it stopped chasing me?"

"An invisibility spell."

"Oh. Didn't know you could do that."

"Well actually, I just made you look like a tree."

"Oh. Still very timely."

She tried to get up.

"Whoa whoa easy. You should rest, the others-"

"Xander I'm fine. You know how important this is." She released herself from his arms and gently let her palms fall to her sides. Her body rose in the air and without a glance back at him, she was gone over the tree tops.

"Yeah sure, no problem. I can handle myself. If I see one of those things again I'll just ... stand there and look like a tree. " He snorted.

He heard grunting and the clashing of weapons in the distance. Holding his sword upright, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and ran to offer his hand in the fight.

. . .

She slid a hand in the bag of bolts at her side. Only four left. It didn't matter though since they were about as effective as a bag of feathers. Buffy straightened her back against the tree and held the tiny crossbow tightly against her chest. She gently slid a bolt behind the string and heard a quiet click as it snapped into place.

The ground trembled and she looked cautiously around the curve of the tree. The beast was standing alert, swerving its head side to side and sniffing the air. It snorted spewing snot from its giant nostrils. It held his weapon lazily letting the wooden head fall to the ground, then its other hand started glowing purple. The surrounding darkness lifted as the light swelled into the forest. Spike was standing ten feet away behind a tree looking ready to catch the demon by surprise. He made a sharp nod to Buffy. She quickly shook her head. "No! No!" she mouthed. "Why?" he mouthed back. She made a circle motion with her finger to get him to attack from behind, but the message didn't get across. He made a baffled expression and then tossed his hands in the air. He jumped out from the tree and rushed the beast head on.

Buffy rolled her eyes and whipped out the crossbow. She snapped the trigger and heard the arrow whistle through the air as it sunk into the demon's temple, just then, Spike jumped and plunged a metal blade into its chest. The monster howled in agony and flailed its head knocking Spike backwards to the ground.

"Spike!" Buffy sprinted towards the demon who was staring at her with angry eyes. She shot one more arrow before throwing the crossbow away. It knocked away the projectile with a wave of its arm. She didn't know if her physical strength could match the demon's, but she thought she'd give it a go. The demon swung its enormous mallet sideways at her body, but Buffy was fast and ducked the attack. Just as she threw her leg to kick him in the belly, there was a blinding flash of light and a powerful force knocked her backwards in the air. She landed hard on her arm and rolled until she collided with a tree trunk.

She struggled to lift her head and see what had happened. A figure was floating in the air about five feet over the demon raining down balls of energy with furiously flailing arms. Buffy had never seen Willow so awesome and horrifying before. Her attack was relentless, her face was as fierce as a mad woman's. The creature underneath the bombardment was swaying back and forth from the powerful blows and finally, it collapsed in a heavy thud. Still, Willow continued her onslaught.

"Willow stop now!" Buffy yelled sounding in pain. The light from the magic was blinding and the deafening sound was like high pressured air popping.

Willow caught sight of Buffy waving her arm and she stopped her attack. She landed on top of the demon's back. It was motionless.

Willow was grinning. "God Buffy what a rush! Did you see that? Did you see me? I've never felt so amazing in my life!" Her eyes were jet black and her hands were still glowing. Her purple flowered top and black Capri pants blurred as if there was a hot magic field around her body.

Buffy got up slowly holding her injured arm. Her gown was torn in several places, but that didn't matter since it was going to magically repair itself in a few hours. Her main concern was Willow. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Her smile faded. "What are you so angry for? I killed it didn't I?"

"Yeah but you nearly took me out along with it."

Spike was walking over to them rubbing his chest where the demon had hit him.

Buffy sighed. "Just try and be more careful nextime."

"Oh well that's just great!" Willow said. "You know, you try and do something good, but they just end up biting you in the ass."

Buffy frowned and stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You think I don't notice? You all tell me: 'Willow don't do this, Willow don't do that, Willow be more careful, don't use your magic, blah blah blah, blah blah blah.' I'm getting sick of it."

"You are blowing this _way_ out of proportion." Buffy looked at Spike and exchanged worried expressions.

"Why does everyone have to be so afraid of me? Maybe they should be happy for me instead. Happy that I'm not some pathetic girl anymore dabbling with magic like an amateur."

"You know what Willow?" Buffy said not wanting to argue. "They should be afraid. Afraid of what you might do if you go all ... Mickey Mouse and not be able to control your powers."

Willow looked confused and Spike shared a similar expression. "Mickey mouse?" Willow asked.

"You were doing great up until then," Spike said smiling behind the hand rubbing his mouth.

"Well you _know_," Buffy said child like. "The whole thing with the dancing brooms and mops and buckets of water- oh come on. Am I the only one with a childhood here? Fantasia? Ring a bell?"

Willow slowly shook her head. "Sorry. Never saw that one."

"The li'lle mousey got lazy and enchanted broom sticks to do his chores for him," Spike said with a smirk. His gaze fell on Willow. "Made a mess of things they did."

Buffy raised an open palm to Spike. "Thank you," she said gratifyingly.

"Is that what you think?" Willow said not sounding hostile anymore. "Buffy I'm doing this for you. Because I made a mistake and I'm trying to fix it." The magic aura around her was fading.

Buffy walked up to Willow and put a hand on her arm. "I know."

"So," Spike said. "We have one heart of the- what's the beasty called again?"

"Vorshal demon," Willow responded. "It's always moving between realities and they know some pretty powerful magic, which is why we have to act fast if we want to get all the organs."

"Just so you know, there is _no way_ I'm cutting any demon open," Buffy said.

"Oh don't worry I'll do it," Willow saw Buffy's eyes widen. "But I won't be cutting with a dagger or anything gory like that. I have a less messier approach." Willow moved to the demon's dead body and bent down over it. The demon's chest glowed blue and suddenly a piece of flesh appeared and rested on top of it. Willow took a plastic bag from her pocket and wrapped it around the heart.

"Yeah ... still gross," Buffy said nodding.

"How many more do we need?" Spike asked.

"Well, we need a lung, a liver and a brain from three other different Vorshal demons."

"Oh god!" Buffy shouted. "Xander and the others!"

"Don't worry," Spike said with a sigh. "The dope's probably dead already."

"Spike," Buffy scolded. "Where are they Willow?"

Willow looked in all directions trying to sense them. "Over there." She pointed to a section of the dark forest.

Buffy darted off. Willow looked back at Spike who stared at her with a dark expression. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing. Best get air-born. You can get there faster than Buffy."

She looked away curiously and levitated off the ground. After a few seconds of hovering, she came back down. "I guess all that magic drained me."

Spike looked away coldly and started walking in the same direction as Buffy. "On foot we go then."


	11. Then There Were Two

_Merry Christmas to you!_

**Then There Were Two**

Leaves crunched under his feet as he ran through the forest towards the distant shouts of his friends - correction - acquaintances. Their usefulness was that of a band of drummer boys in an army brigade, only, without the rhythmic morale boost. A branch caught the corner of Spike's mouth. He licked the blood away, and he looked to the corner of his eye. The light, quick steps behind belonged to Willow. Spike could practically feel her magic intensity flowing off of her. She wanted to cast death bolts from her fingers now and ask questions later. _I'm watching you witch. Threaten Buffy's life one more time and I'm coming off the sidelines._ He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his mind, as if Willow had heard his thoughts. Spike kept his eyes focused forward, hoping intensely that it wasn't the case.

Willow's eyes suddenly widened and she gasped. "Tara! She's losing strength!" From the strain in her voice, it was like she was witnessing the event before her eyes.

Spike caught sight of a small glimmer of light. There was shouting and the sound of something shattering, like glass breaking repeatedly. The light vanished and Spike felt a burst of energy behind him. Willow flew past him at immense speed.

When he caught up to the scene, he saw Willow crouched to the ground with Tara, who looked unconscious, in her arms. His eyes lingered onto Drusilla's figure. She stood with her back towards him, and he felt something surge inside his being. She looked mysterious, a sight that Spike admired. He expected a coy smile as she turned to him, but her expression remained sombre and he was reminded yet again that Drusilla's love was forever gone. He casually looked away from her.

Giles slouched with his back against a tree. He held a palm over his right shoulder where a red stained blotch soaked the brown fabric of the sweater. Xander was crouched down over a dead demon, which was lying face first in the dirt with a double-ended axe protruding from its back. The man didn't look injured, but from his despaired expression, Spike could tell something else was bothering him. Anya stood apart from the scene with a spell book held tightly against her chest. Her expression was distant and emotionless, a look shaped by the countless horrifying scenes she had witnessed in her demon life.

Xander's voice was unexpectedly cheery. "So, who's up for some demon sushi?" His smile faded and he looked down at the sword limp in his hands.

Giles gazed at him, appearing to understand something that wasn't evident. He pushed on his knees to stand and half chuckled doing so. "Not bad for a left arm I'd say."

"Coming from an old man, it really was quite the throw," Anya said. "Really Spike you should have seen it."

Giles glared at her.

Spike looked down at Tara. Her face was serene. "Is she alright?" he asked Willow.

"She couldn't hold it," Willow spoke softly still staring at Tara. "She promised me before we went out here tonight, that she wouldn't over do it. She promised she would keep herself safe. She'll be alright though. I just need to get her back home."

Xander stood up. "I help you-"

"No it's okay Xander, I'll bring her back."

"It wasn't such a good idea bringing all of you along," Buffy said. " I really appreciate what you guys are trying to do, but I think it's safer if Spike and I look for the other organs on our own."

Spike's gaze met with Buffy's and he made a tight lipped smile.

"Yes, I think I've had enough close calls with death for one night," Giles said. "Do be careful Buffy. These demons are rarely hunted for a reason."

"I will." She smiled warmly to assure him.

"The spell linking our dimension to theirs will only last another six hours," Willow said.

Buffy nodded. "Right, so find demon, slay demon and don't touch the metal rim when I go in for the organ, gotcha."

"I'm sorry Buffy."

"Will don't be. Tara's wellbeing is priority right now, so go and get her safely home."

Willow closed her eyes and white dust began to circle her and Tara. It sparkled brightly and thickened into a cloud that rose from underneath the witches and carried them into the air. The moonlight shining brightly on the couple illuminated their skin and hair making them look like spirits ascending into some divine place.

. . . .

Buffy took a moment to smell the pine trees, closing her eyes as her feet glided between roots and fallen branches. She was glad she could still appreciate something as petty as the smell of nature.

Spike muttered something. She faced him with wide eyes. "What?"

"You admire them," he said looking calmly ahead.

"Who?"

"Them."

"Who's them?"

"Willow and Tara."

"Oh." She paused. "They have their speed bumps, but I think they really are meant for each other."

"Is that what you believe," he said rhetorically.

"Yes it is. What makes you think they aren't?"

"Well, let's see. Willow's gone into the dark end of the magics and now she's got a demon inside of her. She's almost inhuman wouldn't you say?"

Buffy scowled. "No I wouldn't say. Willow is Willow. No amount of magic is going to change that."

Spike chuckled. "Oh Buffy. If only you see what I see." His voice turned serious. "She's dangerous. I feel it."

She stopped walking and stared at him in the eye. Her voice was steady. "I trust Willow. I trust her with my life Spike. If you have issues with her then that's your problem. Don't come to me thinking anything's going to change because you've got a _feeling_."

"And that little tiff you and her had earlier? You told her _'people should be afraid of you'_. Or did you forget?"

Buffy didn't respond and then continued walking ahead of him.

"Wait Buffy," he said sounding apologetic. "I'm just trying to understand."

She turned back and faced him. He no longer looked confident in himself, his soft gaze moved on her like and abandoned puppy's. "You're trying to understand what Spike? Why I don't hate Willow?"

"No." He walked towards her as if yielding to her anger. His magnetic eyes were locked into Buffy's, not allowing her to look away. "There's a demon inside of me Buffy. Why can't you see me the way you see Willow?"

"You've killed people Spike."

"Well not anymore with this bleedin chip in my head," he said frustratingly.

"Huh so it _is_ still in there."

"I'd never hurt you Buffy."

Buffy's frown faded and she turned away. "I know."


	12. Moonlight Angel

**Moonlight Angel**

Flood lights from neighbouring homes casted bright round circles on the ground making the Summers' home look lonely and abandoned. _Make a mental note. Buy new garage lights._ Willow descended towards the window belonging to the master bedroom. It was closed with the curtain drawn. She glanced at the sidewalk to make sure no one was watching. It was pointless since, even if someone was watching, she wouldn't really care. The entire street was barren except for a black cat that was prowling on the edge of a wooden fence. The feline's head turned to Willow and its bright green eyes stared at her for a moment. Then it jumped down and disappeared into the darkness. Willow remained hovering in front of the window with Tara in her arms. Being outside and alone with her was serene, and she felt a glint of happiness. Leaves ruffled in the distance and the wind howled as it blew against her back. She realized Tara was probably freezing, so she quickly gestured her head sideways, making the windows flap open. She glided through and gently rested Tara on the bed.

Willow lied down beside her and held her hand.

"Tara?" she whispered. "Tara?"

No response. Willow smiled and stroked back Tara's hair.

"This will never happen again, I promise."

There was only one way to protect Tara from harm, and it was something that would bring Willow and her closer together. Their bond would strengthen and their power would grow. Finally, Tara would see how wonderful a life of infinite magic could be.

. . . .

"_Hello Buffy._"

_Hey._

"_I shine like an eye's glint and burn for all eternity. I wave to you from afar while holding my deepest secret."_

_That's nice._

"_Buffy?_"

_Yeah?_

"_What's your secret?_"

_Secret? I don't know what you mean._

Another voice came, with a disturbing presence that brought Buffy out of her mind.

"BUFFY," Spike barked.

"Huh?" Buffy shifted her head clearly startled. "Were you saying something?"

He smirked. "For a moment there, you had Dru's expression. You know, the one where she's off dancing on some other god forsaken planet." His expression turned a bit worried. "Somethin botherin you?"

She made another startled sway of her head. "What? Oh, no I'm fine. I was just talking to someone."

"You were talking to me."

"No not you."

Spike's worried expression deepened. "If talking about Drusilla bothers you-"

"You were talking about her? What of?"

"About the moment she tore my heart in two. But it's no big deal really, since talking to yourself appears more interesting."

Buffy didn't understand why she wasn't apologizing. It seemed, for the moment, she had lost all of her emotions. Her mind was clear; at peace. It was strange talking to another voice in her mind, but it seemed kind enough. Slowly, as Spike gave up on talking to her, her state of mind began to wash away and the calmness along with it. _No, don't go away. I want to feel this longer._ Her mind began to fill with memories and the emotions that went along with them. She sighed and looked to the vampire.

"Spike."

He stopped walking. "Shh."

"Oh, so now you don't want me to talk to you."

His expression was grave, his eyes focused straight ahead.

"What's with you?" Buffy looked forward. A massive figure was standing a hundred paces away staring directly at them. A large horn protruded from its head and one of its hands rested on top of a large weapon that stood vertically from the ground. "Oh boy." She felt the creature's eyes pierce through her.

"Shit," Spike said.

Buffy looked at him.

"I forgot my sword."

Buffy grabbed the crossbow from her back and ran on a diagonal brushing past trees as she unloaded quills in the demon's direction. They all seemed ineffective, but the point wasn't to deal damage. She had drawn the demon's attention long enough for Spike to come charging at it from behind. The body of the demon towered over Spike, but he was more than thankful that, other than its head, it hadn't bothered to move. He kicked the large hammer from underneath the demon's grasp and then rolled towards it grabbing the shaft in his hands. It was surprisingly light as he held it up against the demon.

Both of them were surprised when it began to speak. It's voice echoed.

"_Where is the one who brought my brothers here? Neither of you have the power of this being_." Its eyes glowed purple.

Buffy and Spike exchanged glances. The demon was telepathic, but when it spoke, it felt like their bodies were shaking.

"_Speak_."

It seemed there was more to the demon than Willow had let on. Buffy lowered her weapon slightly. "What do you want with her?"

Its horned head shifted as if it was surprised at the question. "_She must die_."

"Sorry, not happening." Buffy released the trigger on the crossbow. The quill struck the center of the beast's chest and like a pebble against stone, it deflected off its hide. _I really need to sharpen those._

Spike swung the mallet over his head, but before he could make contact, the demon raised its palm surrounded by glowing light, and the momentum of the weapon froze. Unable to move it, Spike released his grasp from the shaft, and the weapon remained floating in the air. The demon's eyes shifted to Buffy. It seemed to be scanning her.

"A s_oul still resides in this night creature. Yet there is something else. How two beings can coexist independently in one body is an anonymity that must be studied._"

"Fascinating, really," Buffy said. "As fun as it sounds to be one of your lab rats, I think I'll pass for today. Fortunately, you can still lend a helping hand in the future of medicine and science by giving us your liver." Buffy bolted towards the demon. She expected the demon to grab the weapon from the air and take a swing at her but something else happened. With a gesture of the demon's hand, the mallet began to spin in the air and before Buffy could respond, the weapon hurdled towards her at high speed and struck her in the chest. She felt the air leave her lungs followed by an unbearable pain in her gut. She landed hard on the ground.

Spike charged at the beast knowing full well he was going to get pummelled to death. With its weapon far away, Spike leaped at its head, but he realized the stupidity of the move when the demon lowered its horn in his path. Spike quickly grabbed the horn with both hands and swerved his body so he was practically sitting on the demon's shoulders. He grabbed the demon's head and tried to twist it but its neck muscles were too thick. The demon reached back and grabbed Spike by the shirt and then flung him to the ground. It raised one of its hooves over Spike's head, but before the demon could land the death blow, it roared in agony and stepped backwards. Spike looked up in bewilderment as the demon continued to stumble backwards and then finally dropped to the ground in a thud. It no longer moved.

A figure stood behind the demon's body with his arms crossed. His spiky hair glinted in the moonlight, followed by a pair of eyes that were like a wolf's. He wore a smug smile, and when he spoke, an old fire immediately began to burn inside of Spike._ The bloody wanker waited until the last second didn't he._


	13. Riddles

**Riddles**

Once filled with sorcery, the forest had subsided into the preceding hours of the night as the glowing moon bowed its head, giving way for the creeping dawn. Leaves ruffled across dry dirt and tickled the side of Buffy's face. Lying on her back, she eventually came to.

_Ohhh. Head spinney. Can't focus - where the hell am I again? Oh yeah, forest. Bad guys with flying boomerang hammers. Did I fly into one?_ Buffy winced at the pain in her chest. _Yep. Willow better get me my old body because I think this one's going to break in two._

"Hey, Buffy. You alright?" The man's voice, full of faithful concern, held a shimmer of familiarity to it. Oddly it wasn't Spike's.

Buffy's eyes were still closed as she sat up and grasped her chest with palms. "Yeah ... my head's still attached to my body right?" Her head was spinning wildly. "I must have hit my head real hard Spike because you sound just like-" Buffy froze the second her eyes fell on Angel's face. He was crouched down on the tips of his toes beside her looking more smug than the situation called for. He wore the usual long black coat with a white undershirt. Buffy didn't notice her mouth was gaping.

A moment of silence passed, and then Angel smiled. "It's nice to see you too." Before he could help her to her feet, Buffy was digging her head deep into his chest.

"Angel," she whispered. "How did you?"

"Willow sent word. I guess she didn't want to spoil the surprise."

Buffy looked into his dark eyes. She could feel herself on the verge of weeping but she swallowed it and when she tried to speak, there was a giant lump in her throat. "It's been so hard Angel. I don't know why or - or how but I'm..." She stopped, realizing how pitiful she was sounding.

"Hey easy. It's alright," he said. "Right now, we have to get out of this forest, it's still dangerous."

"Hey!" Spike shouted from behind. "Mister h_ero_. We're in the middle of something in case you hadn't noticed." He brushed the dirt from his coat with annoyance.

Angel turned his head with his eyes still on Buffy. "Still alive Spike?"

"Oh pel_ease_," he snorted. "Don't think I owe you thanks. I had him, _right _where I wanted him." Spike could feel his temper rise as Angel stroked Buffy's cheek. Seeing Angel and Drusilla together all lovey-dovey brought back ill memories, back when the three of them were doing evil with Spike as the third wheel and in an actual wheelchair. At the time, he was unable to give Angel the sucker punch to the jaw he so righteously deserved. "Alright, there'll be no more of that." Spike pushed an intervening arm between them and took the dignity of helping Buffy to her feet.

"Ohh slow down." Buffy put a palm to her head and moaned. "Still ... need ... to cut out ... liver."

Angel appeared confused.

"Demon liver. Willow needs it to cook up her spell to cure Buffy."

Angel's eyes narrowed. "I don't recall Vorshal organs being useful for anything other than messing around with time. Just how powerful of a witch has Willow become?"

Spike nudged his head forewarningly. "Not sure I know myself. The red head got it on with some demon essence trapped inside some globe and now it's loose inside her."

"Willow." Angel looked down with unease. "She didn't mention that."

"Women," Spike said. "Always hiding something from you." He stared at Buffy who appeared to have fallen unconscious in his arms. "Never telling you the truth." He couldn't help but stare at her. There she was in his arms and all he wanted to do was kiss her. He lingered over her for a moment. It felt like time was still. He looked up seeing Angel's curious gaze. Spike swayed his eyes away and cleared his throat. "We better get her home."

"No time." Angel thumbed towards the light blue horizon.

"My crypt's closer." Spike went to move but flinched at the sudden pain in his body and dropped a knee to the ground. The demon had hit him harder than he realized.

Angel stepped forward. "You alright to carry her?"

Spike sucked in his gut and managed to stand again with Buffy in both of his arms. "I got it."

. . .

Yellow and orange light swirled and the sound of lively chatter hummed as the surrounding area came into full form before Buffy's eyes. A cold glass of red coloured juice rested between her fingertips. She sat alone at a triangular shaped glass table wearing a white wool turtleneck with red leather pants. She looked around seeing the faces of teens enjoying the energetic atmosphere as the Dingoes Ate My Baby played onstage. It seemed strange to Buffy that her table was the only triangular one. She looked up. _What is with this floodlight directly over my head?_

"Hey blondy."

Buffy turned to a young man who dressed like he had tried a bit too hard. She stared at him abstractedly as she sipped her drinking straw.

He smiled in the awkward silence. "You ... wanna dance?"

"Nuh uh. I'm waiting for someone," she said merrily. "I think ... I'm waiting for someone." Buffy curled her head as if she couldn't remember. The boy made a slow and confused nod, then walked away.

The noise and lights of the club faded as if an invisible wall was placed around Buffy. Her eyes focused on a crowd of people and she could see a figure making its way through them. Spike was walking towards her in a fitted black shirt with rolled up sleeves. His dark eyes stared her down like a prowling beast. Buffy couldn't move a muscle.

He laid a hand on her shoulder and smiled slyly. "Why do you still come to places like these? Do you honestly think you're ever going to fit in again?"

The syllable barely escaped Buffy's lips. "What."

"You're not Buffy. You're just some _thing_ that crawled out of its hole." He laughed harshly. "Don't worry you'll always have me."

Buffy's heart pounded and her throat was tight. She shook her head. "I am Buffy." She looked at her hands and then pulled them down her face. "It's me. This is my body."

"You've tasted blood Buffy. You've tasted it from a boy. Haven't you?"

Buffy couldn't stand to look at him anymore. "No. I - I couldn't have." Memories of a dark alley and a young boy in her arms flashed into her eyes. She couldn't see any further. She couldn't remember biting him. "I didn't!" Her eyes darted around but no one seemed to be paying attention to the conflict at the center of the room. She wanted to shove him away, but her arms were frozen. She looked back up at him but he had already turned into a vampire. He smiled through his fangs and then lowered his head to her neck. Buffy couldn't scream. The figure of Drusilla standing behind him was the last thing Buffy saw before everything turned a blinding white.

Buffy felt something warm wrap her body and she opened her eyes to a bright blue and cloudless sky. She was lying on sand with the sun shining down on her. The waves hugged the shore soothingly and Buffy found herself feeling serene. She looked down the shoreline and saw the body of woman with dark brown hair lying motionless. Buffy heard feet sifting through the sand in the other direction and turned her gaze. Buffy was sure the woman standing before her in a black gown was the same one lying in the distance.

"They say when you die, you're supposed to be able to hear them," Drusilla spoke.

"Hear who?" Buffy asked.

She was staring over the ocean. "Mama and papa. Head's always in the clouds she'd say. Papa never talked about it. He was afraid he was. Scared little birdy afraid of the black rabbit." She brought her fingers to her temple and whimpered. "Crazy they said. Witch they whispered. The stars are telling me what is to come." Her eyes narrowed on Buffy. "I think we are sisters. One and the same, sharing a life. But, some time or another, heads will have to give way for tails my dear. The day will come."

Buffy looked down at herself and felt the fabric of her white gown. She sifted her feet in the warm sand and smiled. "Is this my body?" she asked.

"The white rabbit lives in its own cage."

Buffy pointed to the body lying in the distance. "Is that you?"

Both hands now grasped her head and she moaned pitifully. "Ohh! Bad men. They are bad. The Hand comes, and the Hand goes. Never gentle when it comes down upon you." Drusilla regained her posture and looked behind herself. "They are calling. Where is my dark one? Where is my Spike? Ohhh..."

Buffy gazed after Drusilla until she disappeared into nothingness. She closed her eyes and relished in the final moments under the sun.

. . .

The glass slipped out of his fingers and shattered against the concrete floor. Spike sighed. "Oh bollocks." He kicked the broken fragments to the corner of the room. "Here you want some?" He shoved the bottle of rum in Angel's face.

"No thanks. I don't drink."

"Pfft." Spike fell backwards heavily on the couch. "You know, you don't have to stay here. I can handle lookin after her."

Angel looked at Buffy who was resting in Spike's bed. He shifted his lips and then narrowed his eyes on Spike. "I'm not leaving her."

"Oh no of course not. You stupid wanker," he slurred.

Angel crossed his arms and leaned against a stone tomb. "I guess you should know."

"That you're a giant poof?"

His expression remained serious as his eyes darted around in thought. "Someone's after Buffy. He's been tracking her down all the way from L.A."

Spike looked concerned. "What, like a demon?"

"Name goes by the Hand."

"Not ringing any bells." Spike massaged his forehead. "What's he want with Buffy?"

There came a groan from the bed. "Huh? Who wants what with me?" Buffy slowly rose and gazed at the two men with half shut eyes.

"Buffy," Spike moved to her.

"How are you feeling?" Angel asked.

"Oh, please don't ask me that." Buffy swung her legs to the side and got up from the bed. She crossed her arms. "What were you guys talking about?" she asked drearily.

"You're being hunted by a demon who calls himself the Hand."

She looked at Angel. "I've heard that name before. Some vamp mentioned him when I was patrolling a few days back." She raised an eyebrow at Spike. "It's too bad jumpy over here staked him before I had the chance to ask him any questions."

The conversation was broken up by three hard knocks on the door.

"Open up! We know you're in there slayer!" shouted a man, clearly some kind of demon.

Angel gestured his head. "Well looks like you're going to get a second chance."


	14. Intrusion

**Intrusion**

It was all but a blur now. She could remember the soothing waves on the shore and Drusilla's elegant presence, but the words spoken were lost to her now. They seemed important, she wasn't sure. If only she could have that dream again.

The bang at the door was louder than before. A voice screeched behind it. "Drusilla!"

Spike glanced at her. His eyes glinted with worry and curiosity, catching Buffy in a musing stare. He walked towards the door.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked.

"Opening the door," Spike said. "If we're going to have ourselves a little scrum, I'd like my door to stay intact."

Spike wrapped his hand around the handle, gave Angel a nod and then pulled the door open. The dawn's light filled the entrance way like a silk curtain, and a not so pretty looking, spiky headed demon stepped through. His eyes locked on Angel and then swayed to Drusilla. He smiled showing long canine teeth and pointed a long-nailed, green finger at Buffy.

"You."

Buffy blinked.

"Your due is paid today." Leaving no time for a response, the demon leapt into the air at Buffy. Catching the thin body in mid air, Angel redirected the demon's momentum into a stone statue. He looked back at Buffy in the face of a vampire.

"Hide," he said.

Buffy knew he thought she was in no condition to fight, but she could feel her dark power strong inside her and it felt good. Another spiky demon came through the entrance way but his face was met with a swinging door that knocked him unconscious.

"Sorry mate, you weren't invited." Spike looked out from the door's shadow and saw three more standing behind their fallen comrade. One of them grinned widely at Spike.

"Get him!"

Spike slammed the door shut with his back against it. Fists pounded wildly behind him. "A little help over here!"

Angel went to grab the neck of the demon he just threw but a spiky hand swung upwards and connected with his jaw. He reeled backwards as searing pain and blood flooded his mouth. The demon tackled his body and they both fell to the floor, grunting and growling like dogs. A wave of unholy force took Buffy and she grabbed the demon by the neck, lifting him in the air. She looked at him and made a curled smile that revealed her glistening fangs. Spike's eyes widened as the frail looking woman effortlessly threw him across the room and to his feet. Only hesitating a second to see the bloody satisfaction on Drusilla's face, he stomped his foot on the demon's neck, breaking its spine. The pounding on the door behind Spike was weakening its hinges.

"There's three more ugly sisters back here and I really don't feel like fighting hand to hand if I'm gonna end up like that." Spike lifted his chin at Angel who was grasping his bloodied jaw.

Buffy slowly walked forward, stood firmly and placed a hand at her side. "Let them come."

Spike sighed, not knowing whether Buffy was at full strength or if she was crazy. He swiftly opened the door and three figures toppled face first to the ground.

"Gee," Buffy said, "you three should seriously think about getting your own act."

"Shut up," the closest one said. They got to their feet, managing to retain their dignity. Spike retreated to Buffy's side. The three vampires stood facing the demons as one, as a pack. The sight must have instilled fear into the lead demon because he stepped back. "You vampires disgust me."

"And you're disgusting." Buffy at the center, stepped forward. "So ... what. Are we just going to debate demon ethnic groups, or are we going to finish this?"

He showed his canine teeth and nodded. "We finish this." He rushed Buffy with a right hook but she blocked it with a stiff arm and made a roundhouse kick that connected with this head. Angel and Spike each took a demon. Bodies flew and stone objects shattered as the dank crypt filled with adrenaline and ferocity.

Buffy found herself pinned by the shoulders on the bed. "Never-" She punched the smooth part of the demon's face. "On-" Another punch. "The first-" She kneed him in the ribs. "Date!" A solid kick to the demon's chest sent him flying backwards and he landed in a thud. She jumped on his chest and grabbed him by the neck. Thorns scraped her hands but Buffy hardly felt the pain.

The demon gargled and gasped. "H-he will never ... stop until ... you're dead."

"He should do his dirty work himself." Buffy snapped his neck. She slowly stood up as Angel and Spike joined her side. They looked around at the bodies and disarray their battle had caused.

"Oh," Spike said with a moan. "Look at this place. You know how long it took me to get it looking proper?"

"Yeah, decorating a crypt fit for a vampire can be an arduous task," Buffy said.

Spike shook his head and kicked pieces of concrete that belonged to a statue. "Well you and kid sister always used to pop in here unannounced, so I thought it was rather decent of me to fix it up."

Buffy smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry Spike. I'll help you tidy things up. Angel can help too right?"

Angel grasped Buffy's hands. "Your hands are hurt."

"Oh." Buffy looked down at the blood. "Don't worry about me." She smiled at him. "I can hardly feel anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Hey, she's a tough girl. She doesn't need you babying her anymore," Spike said.

Angel glanced at Spike. "No. I guess not."

"Hey. I think this one's still alive." Spike kicked the leg of the demon that had fallen unconscious from being hit by the door. The demon's head turned slowly, and he moaned.

"OO, should I get the rope?" Buffy said.

"I'm gonna go. There's some people I know who might know more about the Hand."

Buffy grabbed Angel's arm as he turned to leave. She didn't want him to leave this soon, and she knew she could easily convince him to stay. "Angel," she whispered. He looked so handsome staring back at her contently. "Thank you." They exchanged farewell smiles.

"Here." Spike tossed him a shabby blanket.

There were many thoughts and emotions that went on between those stares and it bothered Spike that his relationship with Buffy could never hold as much weight. A part of herself always belonged to him, much like the way Drusilla was a part of Spike. And it was that very thing that shattered Spike into two whenever he laid eyes on Buffy. Was she the ten thousand mile distant star, or the one at arm's length willing to accept him.

The sun melted the chill in the air as the mortal and immortal quelled amongst themselves. Like pawns, they move and react to whatever they see before them, unknowing. Push and pull. Prod and run. A force rises to blanket everything with darkness, and so it begins.


	15. Before the Storm

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reading my story. I do appreciate feedback also..._

**Before the Storm**

The curtains were drawn with opaque fabric making the kitchen look dull. Breakfast always tasted better when the morning sunlight was peeping through the blinds, but Buffy was just going to have to enjoy cereal without it. Dawn stood across from her rattling her nails on the island counter. She wore a bright smile.

"So? What was it like?"

This was Dawn's usual way of starting a conversation. One never really knew what the topic was at first. "What?" Buffy said through a mouthful.

"YOU know. Seeing Angel finally. Were the googly eyes googling? Was there groping, was there kissing? Do tell."

"Well, the eye stuff was definitely there," she grinned. "But we didn't get any farther," she looked down at her milk. "Spike was there and I think we were a little busy with the demons trying to kill us."

Dawn looked sweetly disappointed. "What a complete bonehead! Not even a peck on the cheek! I mean after being, you know, you'd think he'd break down that emotional wall of his."

"Dawn, it doesn't change what happened between us, we're still..."

"What do you mean? He's a vampire, you're a vampire. Get on with the vampire love already. There's nothing to think about. I mean, isn't this what you've always wanted?"

Buffy raised a quirky eyebrow.

"Not that. I mean - what I mean is, the reason why you two broke it off was because he would live forever and you wouldn't right? Well, that isn't an issue anymore so what reason is there to be apart?" She stared Buffy in the eyes. "You still love him?"

"I..." Buffy found herself unable to answer. Her sister was being a prying monkey, but her question brought back a wave of emotion and memories that Buffy didn't want to have to deal with, not now anyway.

"Is it Spike?"

Buffy almost overreacted but she managed to keep a nonchalant voice. "Please Dawn."

"What?" Dawn giggled. "You two have been spending a lot of time together, and I don't have to remind you that he was infatuated with you ever since Glory, probably even earlier than that." She took a sip from her orange juice. "Spike has actually been really good lately. He looks after me and stuff, not that I need to be looked after or anything, but I guess I just like it when he's around. Buffy, if you have feelings for Spike, it wouldn't bother me at all. Whoever you choose, I just want you to be happy and not have to keep it a secret or anything. Because we know that never turns out well." She grabbed her school bag and gulped the last of her juice. "I should get going."

Buffy smiled warmly but didn't want to say anything she would be admitting to herself. "You taking the bus?"

"Yep."

"Where's Willow and Tara?"

"Oh I don't know. I think they were out all night or something. You know, they've been acting kinda weird lately." She shrugged. "Maybe they need to cut back on the magic weed." She went to leave through the door.

"Weird how?"

"Can't talk gonna miss the bus, bye Buffy!" She was gone.

Buffy wanted to talk to Willow about the ritual she was going to perform to try and find answers about her vampire rebirth, but if she was busy taking care of Tara then there was no reason to rush it. She still hadn't gotten used to sleeping in the day like a normal vampire, so she was faced with the question of what to do next to pass the hours. Housework seemed like the responsible approach, but she didn't feel like it. Even after breakfast she felt hungry still and it hit her that she hadn't drank any blood for a while. It was like craving sugar, raw sugar, only you couldn't get your fix from the local corner store. The butcher shop where Angel had gone came to mind, but she wasn't ready to be asking for bags of blood from complete strangers. There was only one alternative.

. . .

Xander wiped the sweat from his forehead and with a few more jerks of the saw, the wood plank was cut cleanly.

"Hey Xander!" A co worker called.

The noises of engines and banging muffled the words. Xander looked up seeing a worker in a yellow head hat waving at him. "Huh?" he shouted back.

"Boss says we gotta move those foundations to the other side!"

Xander made a frustrated sound. "Again? Really?" He tossed the saw down and started walking. "The guy thinks we're steel robots or something. And let me guess, the forklifter's still broken." The worker grinned back. "Greeaat."

The steel beams weren't long but Xander could only carry one at a time. His mouth dropped seeing his co worker carrying four, two over each shoulder. "Hey Sam, you're not secretly the green Hulk are ya? Because, no offense, you'd need five times the muscle you have to carry those."

Sam chuckled. "It's all in the breathing."

Xander carried on in disbelief. "That's some breathing."

"If you really want to know." Sam's voice dropped to a whisper and he leaned forward. "Look, I don't want the other guys to know cause we get paid by the hour."

Xander was in no real mood to listen to what anyone had to say. Tara getting hurt from that demon the other night, something he could have prevented, was eating away at him. Still, he didn't want to be rude. "Go on."

Sam held up his hand showing a black featureless ring around his finger. "This is what makes it possible."

"You're saying that ring gives you super human strength."

Sam looked around and nodded. He put down the beams and took off the ring. "Here."

Xander hesitated and then slipped it on.

"Go ahead pick them up."

He lifted one beam over his shoulder. Unsurprisingly it didn't feel any lighter. He wrapped a hand around the second beam, but he couldn't lift it. Xander grinned. "Yeah, this isn't happening."

Sam tapped his head. "Part of it is in here. You have to believe you can do it. Try one more time."

Using all of his strength, Xander lifted two beams over his shoulders, but he lost his balance and fell backwards. The beams made a loud echoing sound as they crashed to the ground and workers from all around turned to look at the commotion. A few of the men chuckled as Sam helped Xander to his feet. "Somehow I don't think the feats of my strength are impressing anyone, and I think I've just killed what's left of my pride."

"I know what it's like to have bad days Xander. Keep it. You'll eventually get the hang of it."

"You won't need it?"

"Nah, my cousin's an enchanter, I can get another one. Oh just one thing. It has a tendency to make you, well..."

"Well...?"

"Reckless. Just don't wear it all the time."

Xander kept the ring on as he worked and despite not having super strength, he started to enjoy the labour. He didn't find it strange or supernatural. He was doing solid and productive work and by the end of it, he no longer saw the day as one of his bad ones.

. . .

The sky was a perfect blue. The clouds were sparse and the cool air was invigorating as it swept past Willow's skin. She looked back at Tara who held her hand. She was smiling.

"How long have we been up here?" Tara said.

Willow smiled at her. "I've completely lost track of time. I wanted to take you over the pacific islands, but I think I'm getting hungry. You hungry?"

Tara nodded. She let go of Willow's hand and they descended in a quiet park in the outskirts of San Francisco. They ordered drinks and sandwiches from a restaurant and sat in the patio area.

Willow swirled the ice cubes around with her straw. "You okay?"

Tara looked anxious. "I'm just a little woozy after flying around. First time and everything you know?" They shared smiles. "I mean, my entire life as a witch, I never thought I'd even come close to this kind of power."

"It's not too scary for you is it?"

"Oh no no. It's just, you giving me all of this magic, that demon inside of you must be pretty powerful." Tara always masked her worry with an even tone, but Willow was used to spotting it out. There was something the way her eyes shifted which gave it away.

Willow's tone dropped. "So the demon's still bothering you."

"Willow, please don't get mad. All of this," she looked around the beautifully scenery, "it's perfect. Let's just enjoy today okay?"

Willow's expression softened and she held Tara's hand. "_Flosera._" A white pedaled orchid appeared in Tara's hand, and she smelled it intently.

. . .

He couldn't sleep, not after the train wreck that smashed his crypt the night before. At least the TV was unharmed, the problem was that rabbit ears didn't pick up anything worth while watching this time of day. He was glad Buffy decided to visit.

"What brings you here in the middle of the day?"

Buffy rubbed her shoulders as if she was too nervous to ask something. "I was hoping that you'd share some of that... stuff. I don't have the whole secret giveaway at the hospital down just yet."

Spike smirked. "You mean, blood."

She made a frustrated sigh. "I just feel so stupid asking like this. I mean I might as well be holding out a cup with a cardboard sign around my neck saying 'Please Feed Me'. What if Willow can't fix this? What if I'm stuck helpless like this forever?" She sat down on the couch with a pouty face that Spike just adored.

"Don't sell yourself short Buffy. No matter how bad things get, you always seem to figure it out eventually. And don't think for a second that I think any less of you comin here, because I don't. My fridge, is your fridge." He took out one of the hospital blood packs, nicked the corner with his tooth and poured it into a mug, which he gave to her.

She stared at it swirling it around for a moment then she took a sip. "So, what do you vampires do for fun around here?"

"Well eating people is at the top of the list, but seeing as how I have a chip in my head and you have a soul, I think we can scratch those good times off. You, uh, a poker player?" Spike realized it was a dumb question.

"What, you mean go to one of your demon bars and sit at a table with some of your demon friends for a card game betting god-knows-what demons bet with?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Sure."

The quick reply surprised him. He smiled in approval. "_I_ am going to give you the time of your life Summers. Trust me, me you and the guys, we're going to have a blast."

She laughed at his sweet promise to impress. She couldn't stay down over the crap in her life forever. What she needed was a distraction and was confident anything Spike threw at her would not disappoint.


	16. The Ritual

_A/N: Hey, sorry for the delay. Enjoy and review :)_

* * *

**Chapter 17 - The Ritual**

* * *

Willow woke with her heart pounding in her chest, her feet were freezing. She sat up and rubbed her toes warm. It was that freaky nightmare again. Like a black smog inside her head, she could feel the evilness inside trying to tear free. She lingered over Tara sleeping soundly beside her. Quietly she slid from the sheets and made her way to the bedroom door. A gust of wind battered the window and she swung around. She listened, waited. Sighing and then rolling her eyes, she spun the knob and the bedroom door creaked open.

A faucet squeaked followed by quick droplets of water as she passed the dark bathroom. Willow's heart began to thump. She steadied her breathing, her mental awareness acute, but she could not stop her body from jittering against the unknown. She flicked on the bathroom light, shielding her eyes from the piercing brightness. The water had stopped running. Willow avoided looking at the mirror as she scanned the bathroom. An instinct that came from watching horror movies with Xander. It was empty.

_"Witch."_

The voice was a raspy whisper sounding like it was coming from every direction. Willow looked down the narrow hallway, there was nothing there. She outstretched a hand saying an incantation in her mind and the tips of her fingers glowed yellow. If there was something strange in the house with her, she would be able to see its aura.

She stepped down the staircase looking out through the windows at the front of the house. Trees swayed in the wind under pale street lights. The tree trunk in front of the house was shaped oddly, as if something leaned against it. Willow squinted, but the deformity vanished.

Drearily, she opened the fridge door and poured herself a cup of milk. She was looking forward to the meeting with the gang when they would start the ritual for Buffy. Everything was prepared, nothing was going to go wrong, she wouldn't allow it. It seemed everyone was convinced Willow was going to summon some godly being, and on hands and knees, beg for Buffy to be human again. _Oh please._ They wouldn't understand what really had to be done. There was only one way of reversing her mistake and it was reversing time itself.

Like a roaring monster, water started gushing from the kitchen tap. Willow jumped back, her hair standing on end. There came a cackling laugh from the same voice she heard earlier.

_"Hovering night, mask of skin, the pretty red girl I see, the pretty red girl within. Tick tock Willow. Tick tock."_

The water stopped its noisy flow, and an eerie deafness filled the room.

"Who are you?" Willow whispered slowly walking backwards.

A laugh like heavy pins. _"Why must you bore the situation with questions you already know the answers to? You know it's funny. At first, I didn't like being inside such a weak excuse for an organism, but I've found something I did not expect. A darkness that was already lying inside - dormant. I want to shape it, nurture it into something incredible ... something unstoppable. You would like that wouldn't you?"_

Fear of the dark magic taking control of her again was almost unbearable. "No," she bellowed.

The laugh was mocking now. Then silence. She felt like there was a second pair of lungs inside of her breathing. _"When I first came into this human reality, I was overjoyed. Have you've ever licked the bleeding scalp of a woman after her hair has been torn off? No? How about the cries of villagers as all of their organs burn to charcoal? That's one of my favourites -"_

With her head burning and spinning, she started chanting using all of her strength to bury the demon away.

_"The red girl best be quiet lest my next riddle go unheard."_

It seemed the harder she tried to block out its voice, the louder it became.

_"A time when carriages and horses walk the road. In a rebellion among the yellow skin, a slayer's fight will unfold. Forever lost they are if you rely on one. Let the water run free, let the joining be done." _

The evil inside subsided, the voice was silent. She wasn't sure if she forced it back down with her power or if it did it on its own. It was troubling not knowing which. She placed both palms over her face and took a deep breath. She didn't know if it was wise to continue with the ritual for Buffy, but then she would be admitting to everyone that she couldn't control her power. They would fear her just as they did before. She didn't want to be invisible. She didn't want to be alone. Dawn was painting the sky a pale blue as she gazed out the window.

. . . .

"You're evil."

"_Very_ evil."

"You're bad ... you're like ... really bad. But then again. So am I. I'm evil. We're both ... evil."

Spike frowned. "Don't say that."

"What? Oh!" Buffy lost her footing and fell sideways into Spike's arms.

"You aren't evil." Her breath was heavy with alcohol as he pushed her upright. She was still tipping back and forth.

Buffy snorted and laughed uncontrollably. "I bite people's necks and _suck their blood_," she said in Dracula's voice. "I run away from crosses and garlic cloves. Now tell me that isn't evil. Oh looky it's sunlight." She stepped off the sidewalk and onto the road.

Spike's eyes widened as headlights from a car headed straight at her. "Buffy!" He dashed out and grabbed her by the soldiers pulling her in as the honking car zoomed by. Buffy beat on his chest like a wild animal until she broke free. She made noises similar to a teenage brat and stormed down the sidewalk with her arms crossed.

"Buffy! What's wrong with you?"

She batted his hand away. "I'm going home."

"Buffy." He put a little more force into it and yanked her around. She stared at him but her expression was completely different. He could have sworn she was about to stake him right there. There was so much rage in her eyes so much hatred and he was pretty sure it wasn't all for him.

She made a couple of harsh laughs. "What is this huh? Me, you, hanging out like we're a couple of vampire buddies. For a while you know, I accepted it," she slowly shook her head, "I accepted that I was going to live the rest of my life like this, because you know what? Hey I hit rock bottom! No way life can get anymore shitty than this!"

Spike smirked. He was wondering when this topic was going to come up again. "Every time Buffy. Every _single_ time. When things start to get comfortable for you or when there's a single shred of happiness to be had, you go and push yourself under again. I know you Buffy. You enjoy the misery. You twist everything so that you can be alone again. Because in that screwed up mind of yours it must be an easier way to live."

"Thank you Spike. Thank you for that incredible insight."

Spike made a sound of frustration and grabbed her by the soldiers. "I've seen you Buffy. I see you hide it. I see you push it away. But it's there. A feeling for me." She avoided his gaze. "I'm not at your side because you're a vampire. If I had it my way, I'd take the human slayer that tried to stake me when we first met. I'm with you because I want to make this undead life a little easier for you, guide you through the ropes I guess. I hate seeing you like this you know. Beating yourself up. But it's part of what you are. And I'm willing to help you through it. You just gotta let me." She turned away from him and neither spoke for a while.

"It's eating away at me Spike. This demon or darkness ... I don't know. I feel like it's taking over who I am. Sometimes, I don't even think I have a soul. My thoughts don't even feel like my own." She turned back to him, her face a little more relaxed yet filled with apprehension. "It's more than just me I think. There's something there. Someone else."

"I expect Willow might be able to find some answers. That is if this little interdimensional trick she's gonna pull doesn't push her over the deep end."

"You think she won't be able to control the demon."

"If you think that she can find some way to get you back to your warm blooded self then it doesn't matter what I think. If she does turn, none of us are going to be able to stop her anyway. I swear I'll never understand it. She's trusted, with the lot of you knowing exactly what she's capable of."

"You of all people should understand Spike."

Spike stood there watching Buffy walk away under the early dawn. It had never really occurred to him before. She never said it to him, because it really didn't need to be said. Buffy trusted him.

. . . .

Everyone sat very still, their eyes darting at each other not knowing what to expect. Willow finished pouring the yellow sand around Buffy which was the outer circle that held the ritual in focus. Closely surrounding Buffy was a slew of bloody organs and white candles. It was obvious the smell emitting from the rotting parts was affecting everyone.

"Good God that's foul." Xander covered his nose and mouth like he was about to hurl.

"This reminds me of a spell I did with baby lambs and bat manure on an abusive husband back in my predemon days. The sight of him expanding exponentially until exploding into itty bits of red flesh was -"

"Anya," Buffy said coolly. "Let's not make Xander puke chunks all over my carpet okay?"

"Yes," Giles said masking his disgust in a smile, "let's not."

"Guys, are we ready?" Willow was holding a book sounding extremely tense. Something Buffy was not used to seeing before she performed spell. Her attention seemed fractured.

Spike was apart from the circle of people, leaning against the wall looking impatient. "Get on with it then."

"Tara you ready?"

She nodded and held Willow's hand.

"This is so cool! I'm actually helping to do a spell!" Dawn's head was bouncing around excitedly. Xander held her hand and smirked at her.

"You think it's fun now? Just wait until scary hairy women try stabbing you in your dreams."

"What?" Dawn said confused.

Willow shook her head telling Dawn to ignore Xander. "The energy required for this is, well, a lot ... the more bodies in the circle, the better."

Everyone held hands to form a ring around Buffy. The sight of it was almost intimidating. Buffy's heart began to race. She could feel everyone's energy surrounding her. Willow began chanting from the book in her lap. Her voice was rigged.

_"C__ruor of vicis. Ego dedi illa verto vicis."_ Willow paused. It looked like she was holding her breath. Something was definitely bothering her.

"You okay Will?" Buffy asked. Spike was glaring at Willow.

She nodded. _"Cruor of vicis-"_

Like a spontaneous hurricane, a huge wave burst outward from Willow's body knocking everyone to a sprawl. Her pupils grew to a translucent black as did her hair. The terrifying witch Buffy had experienced seeing before was once again before her.

"Willow!" Buffy yelled.

The witch's smile filled Buffy with horror. The sides of her mouth stretch inhumanly high and the very structure of her face warped into a goblin's. Spike threw himself at her but the energy field surrounding Willow was impenetrable and deflected his attack sending him flying backwards and crashing into the wall.

The voice was not Willow's but that of a ferocious demon. "Blood of time and parts of the outer fold. These pathetic creatures, send them to a past. A period they will be trapped until we are one. She will be mine, forever, for eternity. And I will have my vengeance on the sons and daughters of the ones who imprisoned me."

There came a deafening scream and Buffy was suddenly surrounded by swirling white and black. Her body felt like it was being pulled in every direction as she spun into the abyss.


	17. We Aren't in Sunnydale Anymore

_A/N: Hi! Sorry, it took so long because I had to rewrite this thing like 6 times. Btw I think I really butchered some British slang here so ... apologies if your English.._

* * *

**Chapter 17 - We Aren't in Sunnydale Anymore**

* * *

"You want my teeth to sink into you. You want your skin to break and have your blood run free. Don't you?"

The first thing Buffy noticed when she came to, was a foul odour that reminded her of wet and rotting garbage that usually comes through the window when a neighbour has his own composter. Her muddled vision and sense of feel slowly started to come back. She noticed that her leg was propped up against a man and her chest leaned tightly against his. As soon as her eyes registered seeing Spike's shameless smile, Buffy gasped and pushed herself away. Something was very wrong since her body refused to do either. She yelled but nothing happened. The muscles around her mouth were tight and hot as if they were getting ready to do something very naughty.

"You always know what I want." His grin receded in anticipation and he bit his lip.

She tried resisting her intense gaze into Spike's eyes, but she couldn't break away. _What the freaking hell is happening?_ It suddenly hit Buffy that there was something very off about the way Spike looked. For one, his hair came down to his shoulders in a ponytail, and two, the colour wasn't a beach blonde but a light brown. He was also wearing a very old fashioned buttoned shirt and an earthy vest. All quite disturbing, but not as disturbing as feeling her chest and thighs move over Spike's hard body like a frisky serpent.

She felt her tongue lick her lips.

"Should I have you _here_?" Buffy's hand seemed to move on its own and laid directly on Spike's left chest muscle. She noticed her hand was gloved with a netted black lace. "Or..." Her hand slid down below his waist. Buffy wanted to shut her eyes and yell "Oh God!" at the top of her lungs, but she was helpless.

Soft footsteps came from behind and her eyes automatically moved away from Spike very slowly and deviously. As her head turned to face whoever was approaching, Buffy could only feel relief wash over her.

"What ever happened to your great conquest William?" Angel asked cheerfully but with an undertone of resentment. Buffy was surprised to hear an accent.

"Angelous." Buffy felt Spike's hands massage her soldiers from behind. "I could kill her now, I could kill her tomorrow. I'll do it whenever I bloody well feel like it. The Slayer isn't going anywhere."

Buffy had no idea if they were referring to her. Angel seemed to be fashioned in the same era as Spike, and the blonde lady wearing a bird feathered hat could be no one else but Darla. Buffy's mind began racing back trying to remember what had happened before she found herself mounting Spike. _Willow... she was... She did a spell. Something went wrong. Something went very planet of the apes wrong._ The setting around her must have been a hundred years old. _We must be in England. No wait a sec._ The familiar faces around her were certainly dressed like they were from England, but the strangely shaped roof tops and dilapidated stick buildings looked more oriental than European. She noticed a pile of rotting vegetables overflowing from a wooden cart. _So that's where it's coming from!_

She had an inkling that she was still in Drusilla's body. But this was the _real_ Drusilla. The whole creepy deal. _Which means they must be talking about the Chinese Slayer Spike killed during the Boxer Rebellion._ _Why the hell would Willow's spell send me to the past? Wonky magic or not, it makes no sense._

Unwillingly, Buffy's hand reached back and teasingly cupped Spike's chin. "I think my doggy is scratching for a play date. Woof. Woof. The time is right, don't you think my pet?" Buffy caught a bemused expression from Darla.

"Yeah," he admitted as he glared at Angel. "I'm in the mood for some fun."

Gunfire crackled in the distance signalling the start of another scrap between the alliance military and the Chinese rebels. Shouts of bravery seemed to come from every direction. Buffy was more worried about how she was going to get out of Drusilla's head and where the rest of the gang was. Then a dreadful thought crossed her mind. _If they were thrown into the past with me, they might be stuck in the bodies of people from this time too._

Drusilla faced Spike and ran a palm down his cheek. Buffy gazed into his dark eyes and wondered if the future Spike was in there trying to figure out what the hell was going on too. _He's probably enjoying having Drusilla all over him like a stripper on a dance pole. _Buffy wanted to reach out and give him a good smack on the head. She had to admit though. It was a bit amusing seeing what Spike looked like a century ago. She was curious if stories of the deadly William the Bloody were as exaggerated as he made them out to be.

Other than observing, she couldn't do much in the way of trying to get out of her predicament. She might have been in a magical dream world or stuck in a vision of the past. If she could somehow influence Drusilla's actions in any way, it would definitely answer a few questions. _Keeping her grabby hands to herself would be a start._

**. . .**

Spike wanted nothing more than to kick that high and mighty expression on the blighter's face. Reliving his glory days was one thing, having to be reminded of Angel's insufferable existence was another. At least with a soul, he kept most of the snickering to himself. It wasn't so bad for Spike's younger self. He was less concerned about Angel and more interested in torturing his human food until they screamed for mercy. _Oh life was good then wasn't it mate?_

_So Red pulls another spell from her ass. I warned them but instead we all hold hands and pretend we don't see the screeching, demon possessed witch practically shooting death balls from her mouth. Score one for me Buffy, I told you so._

Drusilla pressed her back against his chest and Spike felt his hands glide from her shoulders and down her arms. He remembered yearning to feel her touch again. She had a power over him. It made him feel invincible, a never ending fuel to his fire. A part of him felt bitter, knowing that the dark web they were once entwined in was no more. As he stared at her seductiveness, he could only feel as though it was all an act, like she was cruelly teasing him.

"I think I'm in the mood for a boy in uniform," Drusilla said thoughtfully. "Those fancy buttons ... and big tall boots ... get me all _wriggly_." Her hands came over her breasts and down her waist. She raised an eyebrow and glided towards Angel. "_You._" She slid a finger down his chest. "Would look dashing in a uniform." Angel gazed at her with a smirk.

"I would have to agree," Darla said spicily as she hugged Angel's arm.

Spike sighed impatiently. "I, _disagree_." Like vixens, both women turned to him and smiled.

It was Dru's nature to be promiscuous with every strapping man that crossed her path. Spike assumed it pleased her to see him jealous now and again, but it was maddening when it came to Angel.

"Oooh," Drusilla cooed. She gave him a reassuring look and placed her hands on his chest. Her expression suddenly turned troubled. "_Bad, bad, bad bad bad_." She pulled her hands away looking offended about something.

Everyone looked at her strangely.

She made a high pitched cry and started to moan. "Something here. Something digging, gnawing..." She tapped her head with a fist.

_I don't remember this happening._ "Dru? What is it? What's wrong?"

Darla looked away uninterested. "Do we really need to ask?"

The snide remark went ignored. Spike gently ran his fingers through her black her. She looked terrified. Angel stepped forward to offer some kind of support causing Spike to instinctively want to tell him to piss off.

"I got it mate," he said coolly. "I think you just need a bit of rest huh love?"

She moaned wearily as Spike lifted her from the ground in his arms.

The both of them entered a small house where an old Chinese couple appeared to be preparing their dinner.

"Go on then, get lost."

When the couple merely exchanged puzzled glances with each other, Spike changed into his demon face. It certainly did the trick as the couple gasped in horror and ran as best they could out the door.

Spike gently laid her down on a bed. He realized he did the action willingly, like his mind gave the order to his body instead of his younger self. Taking this is as a good sign, he decided to see if he could get himself to say what he wanted to say.

"I shagged a pikey trollop."

Drusilla drearily looked up at him. "Hmm?"

He smiled. "Nothing love." He leaned over her and pressed his lips against hers.

She started squirming under him making short gasps of distraught.

"Off Spike! Off!" She pushed him away and stood very disoriented on the other side of the bed. "God! Do you two ever take a break from each other? It's suffocating!"

Spike was very confused. The Drusilla before him appeared more exasperated than she was mentally insane.

"What's the matter with you?"

It looked like a burst of realization hit her. "Did I just- I did!" She started patting her body like it wasn't her own. Her head snapped to Spike, eyes gleaming at him as she slowly made her way around the bed. "Spike? Spike if you're in there," - she was almost shouting - "you have to try and take control of your body!" She grabbed him firmly by the shoulders and started shaking him wildly.

"Stop. D-Dru- Stop it!" He tried to jump back, but her grip was too strong. Moving well beyond feeling aggravated, he took her by the shoulders and used some of his demon strength to push her away. "I _am_ in control."

"Wha?" Drusilla looked at him stupidly."Spike, it's _me_. Buffy."

"Buffy?" It didn't seem to register.

"Yes. BUFFY."

Spike gazed at her like there was something on her face. "So you were in Drusilla when she was..."

"Making out with you in the middle of the road? Yeah," she said with cheerful resentment.

"Oh," he said plainly. "That must have been uncomfortable for you..."

"That's understating it." Buffy took a breath of relief and looked around the room. Her eyes came back to him in soft curiosity. "When exactly did you gain control of yourself?"

"Just about the same time you did."

Spike noticed Drusilla cross her arms and shifted her weight to one side much like how Buffy would do it. Her eyes scanned the house again. She frowned as she sniffed the air.

"I felt like my head was going to explode just trying to take control of my hands," she said. "When you were ... kissing her ... it was like all of my senses snapped into place and I finally had my will power back."

"Really? It sort of just hit me without really trying." He could tell his response annoyed her a little. He shrugged. "Must have been easier for me since it was my body to begin with."

"Is something burning?"

Spike turned around. His eyes widened to a roast duck in flames. He quickly took the sheet from the bed and tossed it over the duck dousing the fire into billowing puffs of smoke.

"Bloody Chinese."

They left the smoggy house and started walking down the dirt road. People were scurrying by them. Some holding personal belongings, others carried children. Desperation and fear plastered their faces.

"Any guesses on how we're getting out of this?" Buffy asked despairingly.

A young man ran by them, appearing to be a European soldier. Spike shot his fist out and connected with the soldier's jaw. As the man reeled sideways in a daze, Spike grabbed his rifle.

"What the hell are you doing?" Buffy was almost screeching.

"Seeing if my chip is working."

She stared in bewilderment. "Obviously not since you don't get it for another hundred years."

Spike knew that of course. He really just felt like hitting something, and knocking that soldier out proved to be very satisfying.

"We have to find the others," Buffy said.

"What others?"

She shot him a severe look. "The _others_ Spike."

"Oh right," he said with phony concern. "Might be a bit tough though. Other than Anya, none of them have their own bodies to go to. They could be anywhere, in anyone."

Buffy sighed. "True. But I have a feeling they're in this city. They might inhabit the bodies of people who lived similar lives as them. Like a librarian or a witch. There were witches in China right?"

"Teh. Yeah. A dangerous group that lot is."

"Ookaay," she said sounding like she'd rather avoid them. "Maybe we should split up and cover more ground." She paused. "Hold on. If we're living in the past then..."

Spike seemed to read her mind. "Things we do here might end up changing the future." He snorted and shook his head. "Bollocks. You know, I think I'm supposed to be killing that Chinese Slayer right about now. If she doesn't die, wouldn't that totally ball up the whole Slayer line deal? You might not even become the Slayer in the future."

The thought seemed to ruffle her. "Can't worry about that now."

It certainly was a disturbing thought to Spike. A world without Buffy the vampire slayer. Going through immortal life without ever having known her. It saddened his still heart more than he could bear.


	18. Confide in Me

_A/N: Not really keen on old fashioned women's clothing so... forgive any misportrayals._

* * *

**Chapter 18 - Confide in Me**

_"Spring in the morning. She opens her eyes and yawns, she smiles, and jumps into my arms."_

"What a beautiful instrument, what is this called?" She studied his quiet expression. With pursed lips she carefully thought of the right translation in Chinese. As she spoke, his face brightly lit up in a smile.

"Lute," he said, brushing a hand over its wooden surface. It looked like a guitar only more pear shaped. He outstretched his hands and offered it to her.

"Oh non, I couldn't. My older sister would scold me until my backside was red. She says I shouldn't touch things that don't belong to me." He stared at her with a slightly ajar mouth. "Oh." She translated, and the man frowned slightly but was still smiling. To his understanding, she had told him her mother did not approve of fruit baskets.

He returned to plucking strings. _"High in the sky, the clouds and the sun love her. She dances in the rain and I love her too."_

Dawn smiled inside. She thought the antiquated looking man had the most adorable set of puppy dog eyes.

She felt like she had been in the body of a French girl for hours. Screaming at the top of her lungs didn't register, and calling "Buffy" in her mind repeatedly was equally futile. On the bright side, the girl certainly got around, allowing Dawn to see some of the most exquisite statues and most peculiar customs she had ever seen. Judging by the peaceful state of her surroundings, talk of the war against the boxers seemed exaggerated.

The old man abruptly stopped playing and stood straight up as if she had done something to annoy him. "Oh for goodness _sake_, stop _playing_!" He held the lute up to his face in surprise, his serene demeanour had shattered. "FINALLY." He gently set the instrument on the chair and faced the girl with a severe expression. "Where the _hell_ _am I_?"

The girl was flabbergasted. "Sir! You speak English!"

"Well of _course_ I do!"

Dawn thought it was also strange he had acquired an English accent. Either the man was pulling her leg, or something out of the ordinary was happening.

"He must be suffering from some sort of old age amnesia," the girl told herself.

The man put his fingers to his forehead and thought hard. "I must be in China, but... everything is wrong. The clothes, the buildings," - he scowled - "you." He sighed hopelessly. "Ooh," he moaned. "What has Willow done?"

_Willow? Did he just say Willow? Giles! Giles, it's Dawn! Oh darn it all. Hey Frenchy! Comon move over and let me talk!_

"Giles!" The girl blurted.

The man looked at her wide-eyed. "What did you say?"

The girl looked sideways in a puzzled way. "I- I don't know. Forgive me, sometimes nonsense finds its way out of my mouth." She forced an elegant laugh.

"Giles. You said, Giles."

"Who in the world is Giles?"

"_Me._ Now stop acting insufferable and tell me what's going on."

"Giles! It's Dawn!" she blurted again. In shock, the girl covered her mouth with both hands. "I must be ill! I should probably return home." She hastily smiled, curtseyed and then turned away.

"Dawn!" Giles pulled her by the arm, and then shook her gently by the shoulders. "Are you in there?"

"Unhand me!" She raised her small hand and smacked Giles across the cheek. The girl gasped. Her lips curved into a bashful smile. "Ooh, sorrie Giles!"

He straightened, blinking many times before he thinly smiled. "Quite alright."

"Man, I thought I was going to be trapped in her forever."

"Yes, I couldn't stand listening to that binky sounding instrument much longer myself." He went to reposition his glasses but realized he wasn't wearing any. "Do feel free to slap me again if I unwillingly start to sing."

She giggled. "I thought you were very good." She paused and frowned. "Hey, I still have a French accent."

"Yes, well, I believe it's the least of our troubles right now. Shall we?" He motioned his head to the road.

"Oui!" She giggled.

**. . .**

"God I feel like my rib cage is being crushed. What the heck am I wearing?"

"A corset."

She raised her eyebrows. "And you are doing what now?"

"Buying a smoke."

"Of course."

Spike gave the merchant woman a rifle in exchange for a sleekly curved piece of wood. The woman swerved a finger at Buffy.

"Oh. Uh, you want anything?" he asked Buffy.

She couldn't believe how nonchalant Spike was acting. "No," she said bizarrely.

He looked her up and down. "Sure?"

Buffy stared at him.

"Alright then."

They walked through the brazier lit roads as Buffy's eyes shifted from building to building. The pain in her chest was starting to bother her again, not to mention the humidity. She grabbed Spike by the hand and pulled him into a shaded area between walls. Spike was frowning at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Help me-" She pulled the frilly straps down over her shoulders. "Take this off."

"Uh..." Spike raised his hands near her chest, but looked too uncomfortable to proceed.

Buffy turned around so the lacing of the corset faced him. She held her hair up. "Okay." After a still moment, she felt his fingers nip at the threading. His touch was soft along her back. She looked back at him. His eyes remained low and focused.

The corset popped open and the pressure on Buffy's chest was finally gone. Spike spun around and faced the other wall.

"I won't-"

"I know," she said softly.

She let the corset fall to the ground and slowly pulled the dress back over her shoulders.

"I see the happy couple is back to normal." Angel was looking on with a humoured and curious expression.

"Well?" Darla looked slyly at Spike. "Did you kill yourself a Slayer?"

Spike and Buffy exchanged glances. "Yeah," he said unenthusiastically. "She twirled her swords here and there. But like every Slayer, she's too confident to know when she's made the wrong move."

Buffy's eyes shifted to Spike. His words almost stung.

"What do you mean 'like every Slayer'?" Darla scowled. "I thought she was your first."

"Oh. Right. I was speaking, you know, figuratively."

Darla raised an eyebrow and smirked at Buffy. "We're going to a pub filled with a wide range of _cultural_ flavours. I'm sure there'll be ... many boys there with large guns. Care to join us?"

Buffy made a face of disgust. She realized she was getting thirsty, but just the way Darla said those words made her stomach turn. "Oh, _gross_."

Angel and Darla looked at each other with puzzled expressions. Spike kicked Buffy's foot and her eyes widened. _Spike is definitely going to enjoy this. _She quickly leaned against Spike's body, rubbing his chest with one hand while the other fiddled with his hair.

"I think my Spikey wikey is full from drinking the blood of that Slayer. We'd rather just ... go on a romantic stroll through town." Buffy moved her mouth about seductively.

"_Spikey, wikey_?" Angel repeated in disbelief.

"Well," Darla said. "Suit yourself." They both gave Spike and Drusilla peculiar looks before continuing on their way.

Spike sighed slowly. He leaned a shoulder against the wall and looked thoughtfully at Buffy.

"Harmony used to call me that."

She slowly grinned. "Really?" Shaking her head, she tried to hold back a laugh. "What did you see in that girl?"

"I don't know. She was well formed up here." He cupped his chest. "With the most succulent lips you'll ever put your mouth on." His smile was shameless, and she rolled her eyes.

Leaning back against the opposite wall she snugly crossed her arms.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Once she opened that yapper of hers, the only thing that would shut her up was a good toss in the sheets."

Buffy tried to hide her amusement in a sideways glance. She looked back with a straighter face.

"And Drusilla?"

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Kinky, kinky, Buffy."

Buffy grinned and backhanded him on the chest. "Seriously."

His grin faded, and he gazed at Buffy. His eyes shifted side to side as if she was something sublime that was so close, yet unattainable.

"She could do no wrong."

Droplets of water fell on their skin. Buffy's gaze fell to his lips and slowly came back to his eyes. As Spike leaned in closer, she felt her entire chest rise into her throat.

"And me. You think I'm ... overconfident. That I make ... the wrong choices ..."

Their lips met and a force surged through her body. She wanted him to kiss deeper, but their lips simply remained touching. He slowly drew back and gazed into her. His hand wiped water from her cheek.

"You are everything you need to be."


	19. The Hand

_A/N: Okay so, ages since the last chapter. Read on for a quick recap of what has happened. _

_Recap: Angel tells Buffy there's this guy called The Hand looking to kill her for some unknown reason. Angel goes off to find answers. Willow does a ritual to try and make Buffy human again. In reality, she can't do this unless she turns back time and tries reviving her again. The psycho demon inside of Willow takes control of her during the ritual and alters the spell so it sends all of the Scoobies back in time to China during the 1900 when Spike encountered his first slayer. Buffy, Spike, Dawn, Xander and Giles are trapped inside the bodies of that time and try to figure out a way back to the present._

**Chapter 19 - The Hand**

It was so easy to let go. The guilt, the sorrow, the shame. They were just words to her now, maybe not forever, but for now they were. She stared up at Spike's narrow face, his cheek bones high as he smiled lovingly, a side of him she always admired but never admitted to. His bare skin pressed against hers and he exhaled heavily. Rubbing his chin gently against her neck, he laid there a moment, his lungs breathing against hers. Why? How? There was no why, she didn't care how. Ever since she had risen from the grave, she had never felt happy and at peace with herself than she did right now. She smelt his skin as he lifted her upright, their arms wrapped around each other. She turned her head and rested a cheek on his shoulder. They were quiet for a while, just holding each other.

He pulled himself away to face her. "Buffy I..."

Her lips folded inside her mouth and she held a finger to his lips. She wasn't ready to hear those words just yet. She brushed her hair back and smiled.

"Hungry, you?"

His eyes slowly widened in agreement. "Want me to kill the innkeeper?"

"For the last time, no."

"The bloke did look a bit dirty didn't he?"

She smiled and rolled her eyes. She pulled him closer, wanting nothing more than for his body to blanket her. _Sigh. I'm happy for a change, so naturally I have to remember that I shouldn't be._

Buffy sat up and rested her arms on his shoulders. She gazed into his eyes. "We have an Easter egg hunt to finish remember?"

He kissed her forehead. "I've already found my golden egg. The only one that matters."

_He's so cute and vulnerable when he's sappy._ "That's sweet Spike, but the sooner we find the Scoobies, the sooner we can get outa this dump." She slid off the bed. "I can't survive much longer without running hot water." She paused, sliding a hand down her arm. She had almost forgotten how cold her skin was.

"Something wrong love?"

She turned to him. Drusilla's smile was quirky. "So besides the throbbing neck of a human being, what else can vampires eat here?"

"Well there's–"

She cupped her mouth with both hands. "Please don't say puppies!" She frowned. "Don't say kittens either."

"Actually–"

"And I'm not scrounging around for rats." She shivered. "No way in hell."

"Angel's idea."

She got a mental image of Angel eating rats in a sewer, and she slowly shook her head. "Can't we go to a bar? Like for the creatures of the night type of thing?"

"Not so much with the bartending scene in this time, more with the killing."

There came a soft knock at the door.

Spike smiled. "Ah. Breakfast."

Buffy quickly pulled her gown on and scowled. "Don't even."

Spike opened the door. The stumpy old innkeeper was shaking as he slowly bowed and offered a clay jug to the vampire. Spike mockingly bowed back, took the jug and closed the door.

"That's sum qualitay service," he said with a heavy accent.

"And I'm guessing that's quality blood. The human kind?"

"Fresh cow."

She sat down on the bed. "Lovely."

. . .

"Where did you take them?"

"A play room. A place where time is still and everything they do matters not. The longer they play inside, the stronger I will become."

"You have to let them go."

"Eventually. The strength I gain from them is insignificant compared to the power I will gain from this body. The red haired girl knows this. She knows she must give up her entire being, _her soul_, to me."

Tara crossed her arms. "Yeah, I don't see that happening."

A devil like smile drew Willow's lips. She brought her hands to her chest and flung them outward. A dark explosion engulfed the room, shattering glass, and tearing through furniture. The force hit Tara in the chest like a brick wall and she flew backwards. All light in the house was extinguished.

Tara opened her eyes and struggled to raise her head. Willow was knelt to the ground, head hung with hair covering her face. There was dead silence. Tara's lips quivered.

"Willow?"

Willow slowly raised her head and a sob escaped her. "Tara? I can't – my head. It hurts so much. He's so strong." Tara moved closer to her, but Willow backed away. "Don't. I don't know what he'll do."

Tara bit her lip as her eyes moved frantically over the broken women trying to figure out what she could do or say to make her sorrow go away. She suddenly felt cold, realizing the wind was blowing through the house's shattered windows. Tara grabbed a blanket from the couch and threw it around Willow's shoulders. They both jumped as there came three hard knocks on the door. They looked towards the window, but it was darkness.

They cautiously edged towards the door, Willow rubbed her arms. "Who is it? It's past midnight by the way."

The voice behind the door was deep, yet lighthearted and chummy. "Sorry to disturb you – uh Buffy Summers I presume? My name is Billy. I'm a big fan."

They exchanged peculiar stares. "Who's Billy?" Tara whispered.

She shook her head. "I–"

The door broke from the wall slamming hard into Willow. Tara shielded her face as wood splinters flew everywhere.

Something very large and heavy stepped into the house. "Sorry. I couldn't contain my excitement. And to the last question asked, you might also know me as, The Hand."

Tara lowered her arms, eyes widening at the hulking creature before her. He slowly looked around the house. His demeanor was confident, badass.

"It's so dark in here," he muttered. He snapped his fingers and fist-sized balls of fire scattered through the air. They slowed to a stop and hung like lanterns casting a warm glow in the area.

His attire was pretty unconventional for a demon. He wore a grey dress shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, under a slick black suit. One would think the buttons would be threatening to pop, but everything fit him perfectly. A single horn protruded from his forehead, curving back slightly. His skin was blood red. Long black nails were noticeable as he crossed his arms. His gaze slowly fell upon Tara. She held her breath.

"So you're Buffy."

Tara couldn't help but stare back, mouth slightly open. She exhaled heavily and mentally shook herself. "_Lucidus!_" she shouted. A blinding flash emitted from her hands and engulfed the room for a long moment. She attuned her senses and found Willow lying unconscious on the floor. She would have to escape through the back door in the kitchen, but she wasn't strong enough to carry her quickly.

The brightness faded and the Hand lowered a palm from his face. "A witch? My mistake." He swiftly moved forward and wrapped his hand around Tara's neck. "Where is _Buffy Summers?_" he asked in a severe tone. "Where is the _Slayer?_"

Tara smacked her palms on his chest. "_Ignis!_" Fire engulfed her hands and spread to the fabric of his clothes. His grasp loosened and she pulled away coughing harshly. He yelled in agony as his entire body burned in flame.

Dragging Willow under her arms, she made it to the kitchen. She could still hear the demon's screams. She swung open the door and quickly looked back sensing something approach. The balls of fire he had casted earlier were hurtling towards her. She swung a palm upwards, creating an energy barrier that reflected the fireballs and sent them exploding into cupboards and dishes. She turned back to the door, but the demon was standing in the entrance, clothes burned away, skin sizzling.

"I liked..." he breathed heavily, "that suit." Blood thirsty eyes narrowed on her. "It's alright. I can make a new one out of your flesh."

She tried to cast, but he was too fast. He swung the back of his hand and smacked Tara in the face. She flew sideways, her body collided with the wall. He raised a claw like hand above her, preparing the final blow. He hesitated and looked down behind him. The once unconscious red head had a firm grasp around his ankle. Her eyes were pitch black, teeth gritted in ferocity.

His eyes widened. "This can't be good."

With inhuman strength, Willow yanked his legs up from under him, sending his head crashing to the floor. In one powerful motion she swung her arms around and sent him flying out the door. Grass and dirt flew in the air as he tumbled across the lawn. There was silence as he laid there motionless. Then he started chuckling. He sat up showing a smile on his face.

"You are one, powerful, little girl. Or should I say..." he stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants, "_Fearal_."

Willows dark eyes narrowed on him.

The Hand raised his chin slightly and studied the witch standing on the porch. "I thought your stench was awfully familiar. Not to mention unpleasant." He chuckled. "Have your kind degraded yourselves to possessing sweet looking girls now?" She said nothing, her cold gaze still upon him. "Not very chatty are we? Oh I get it. You want to wrassle with me a little more."

"Why do you seek the Slayer?" Demanded the Fearal sounding somewhat uneasy.

"No reason. Well, I just want her dead is all." He scratched his cheek. "Why do I get the feeling you've already done her in?"

"She is no longer your concern. Leave this place now."

The Hand shook his head. "Sorry, can't do that. Not until I see her cold, lifeless body."

The Fearal slowly smirked. "Then we have a problem." She raised hair hands to her shoulders and dark purple energy started flowing from them. The demon inside Willow had no intention of letting anything get in the way of his plans, but it had been long since he last fought someone worthy of his magic. He remembered the excitement of battle, of tearing his opponents limb from limb. He hoped for a long and exhilarating fight. Willow's strength was weakening allowing more of his power to reach the surface. It was only a matter of time before guilt would completely consume her, forcing her to give up her soul for her friends. _Once I have taken the witch, the darkness in Buffy will grow. She will turn to hate and revenge. Her moral shell will fall to pieces after every step she takes towards me. Her despair and that of her friends will be unbearable, and I will relish in it. _


	20. Shifting Powers

**Shifting Powers**

The fight had lasted almost an hour. Sorcery scarred the Summer's backyard with smouldering blast marks. The air was thinly saturated with a grey haze. Desperation had come to the Fearal demon and the body of the witch he controlled. He had bargained for a battle he could not win. There had been no decisive blow, no fatal mistake had been made. The other demon's trickery rivalled his own. The Hand had simply outlasted him. _Why do I weaken so easily? This girl. This girl is one of the most powerful witches I have come to possess. And yet, her powers wane._

The Fearal slowly rose to his feet, eyeing the red demon that walked towards him. The girl's arm was limp and bleeding. The Fearal held it tightly. _It is the other world that prevents me from using my full power, but I cannot free them just yet. Her friends must give into their fears so I can feed and regain my strength._ An idea came to his mind and he made Willow grin.

The Hand's tone was cool. "Is that the last smile of a dying warrior?" He raised his palm in the air, and a thick stream of yellow and orange fire wrapped his own body like a snake.

The Fearal was quiet. He gazed at the demon with black eyes, breathing steadily. Willow's body was damaged, but she still had fight left in her. Her head lowered like a predator.

The Hand smirked as if laughing at the Fearal's attempt to stand his ground. "Just tell me where Buffy Summers is, and I will leave you. Must we prolong this one-sided death match? Should you choose to keep your tongue silent, then I _will_ end you. Decide quickly, I cannot stand staring at your mongrel figure much longer."

Willow's smile was demonic. She stood straight, raised her index finger and curled it towards herself.

The Hand growled. "I shall enjoy watching you burn." He flung out both hands, fingers spread wide. The flame sped from his body like a jet stream.

The gigantic flame acted like a screen, blocking The Hand's view of her. The Fearal teleported away just before the fire hit him and rematerialized behind the demon. The Hand realized what had happened and tried to turn around, but it was too late. Willow slapped her hands on the demon's head and shouted words of Latin. Energy exploded from them like lightning.

"ARRRGH!" The Hand screamed. "What do you think you're _doing_!"

Willows expression was ferocious. "You want Buffy? I'm just lending you a _hand_. Search for the dark temptress. Find Drusilla, and you will find Buffy."

The Hand's eyes widened, his struggle fading. "_Drusilla_," he said in anger.

There came a blinding flash of white light, then silence. The Hand was gone. The Faeral dropped to his knees. Willow's power had been drained. _He's their problem now._

. . .

The Chinese bar was filled with soldiers from many different nations. The Chinese empress had chosen to ignore the Boxer rebels, so foreign powers had to intervene in order to keep their political interests protected. The empress, it seemed, also chose to ignore the demonic presence that was running rampant through the country. Perhaps she thought nature would sort itself out.

The American soldier drank the last of his tankard and slammed it down on the table. He looked around at his fellow soldiers. His eyelids sagged and he had a silly grin on his face. He made a circular rotation with his head before raising his tankard again. "More beer girl! Rounds for my men!"

The Chinese waitress looked sheepishly at the man behind the bar counter. The man hopelessly sighed and gestured her to serve them more drinks.

"Captain," yelled one of the soldiers. "Tell us again how you fought off those savage warriors!"

The captain raised a brow and smirked. "No no. Enough of me for a while I think!"

Xander gave a mental sigh. _Thank, god. If I had to listen to this drunk bastard another minute, I would have grabbed the gun beside me and shot myself. Okay, maybe not, but I would have definitely inflicted head trauma. This guy is tipsier than Buffy on a night out with Spike. He needs a slap across the face._

The captain suddenly raised a wobbly hand and smacked himself across the cheek. Everyone stopped talking to stare at him. The captain shrugged and burst out laughing. His men followed to the point of breathlessness, fists bounced on the table.

_Ow. Hey, wait a minute. I just slapped myself. Himself. Whatever. Hmm, I wonder if I can..._

The drunk captain stood from his chair and turned like a top being rotated by unseen fingers.

_Yes! Xander you genius! I have control. I have the powwwerr!_ Xander took a moment to feel out his new found control over the captain's body. He touched his body, and then tried touching his face. His own finger poked his eye. _OW! It's like being in a virtual SIMs game, but your character doesn't do what you want him to because his brain's turned to mush._

"Oy captain! Getting a little frisky there?" shouted one of the soldiers.

"Take it elsewhere sir! We don't want a show!" The soldier in the arm sling started cracking up.

_With pleasure you louts._

"With pea soup laddies!"

_Leeeet's not talk until we're sober._

Xander forced the captain out the bar doors, and he nearly fell face first into the ground. He could feel himself get dizzy. His mind was no longer just an observer in the body, he had replaced the man's consciousness. He tried to look around. Aside from the sun being out, and there being other buildings around him, he couldn't focus clearly enough for anything else to register. He tried to straighten himself. A bright white ball appeared in his blurred vision. He squinted at it and it appeared to get larger. A powerful force knocked him backwards, but somehow he was able to stay on his feet. A strange sound like the crackling of electricity screamed through his ears. He looked again in the direction of the white ball, but it was no longer there. It had been replaced with a red blobby figure. Xander squinted harder and was able to make out two large arms that were wrapped around its legs. The thing was sitting in a fetal position and it appeared to have a long black thing sticking out from its head. It slowly stood up and its gaze seemed to lock onto Xander's position. Xander frowned, and then his eyes widened, realizing it looked exactly like a demon. It was wearing black pants that had scorched holes. He was shirtless, showing his large, red colored chest. The demon stepped towards him, but Xander did not move. He had the feeling he was supposed to be running or something, but there was no urgency in his body.

"Where is _Buffy Summers_." His deep voice made Xander tremble. "Where is that accursed woman, _Drusilla!_"

Xander stumbled backwards. "Buffy? _Buffy..._"

Panicked screams sounded from all around as people in the area started running away.

The demon's face was inches from Xander's nose. He could do nothing but stare back.

"Who're you?" Xander mumbled.

"Your saving grace little man. Grace from your worthless existence." The demon raised a hand and backhanded the soldier across the face. The fact that the human was still standing seemed to bother him. The demon frowned and backhanded him again.

Xander felt like a bobble head. It felt like his brain was bouncing off the walls of his skull. He had a sudden urge to throw a punch, and after a few seconds of planning the right muscle movements, he formed his hand into a fist and gave the demon an uppercut to the chin.

The red demon was thrown into the air and landed in a thud a few feet from Xander. Xander studied his fist in awe. The demon wiped his mouth and rose to his feet as if an invisible hand had picked him up.

"How–" The demon eyed Xander intensely and his eyes lowered to hand where a black ring wrapped his finger. A smile appeared, then he produced a full fledged chuckle. "A Kejada ring? I guess I shouldn't be surprised after that bloody witch brought me here."

_Kejada ring?_ Xander looked down at his finger. _Oh yeah. Sam gave it to me at work. Hey, I guess it works now. Sweet._ His gaze slowly raised to the demon, and he gave a predatory smile. _Very sweet._

"Sigh," the demon said as he sighed. "I don't have time for this."

"_Make time_," Xander growled. The smacks to the head must have sobered Xander up. He took the gun from his holster and aimed at the demon's head. He could feel the muscle training of the captain work through him. "What do you want with Buffy? I _really_ don't like demons all up in my face, so I'm giving you about three seconds to answer before I blow your ugly head off."

The demon chuckled again. "You aren't serious are you? A human with borrowed magic can't defeat me, and neither can that primitive weapon." He snapped his fingers and three balls of fire appeared over his head. They floated there a moment then launched forward.

Xander fired two shots and rolled sideways. The fireballs flew into the bar behind him. Wood and splinters exploded. Xander looked up to see if he had hit the demon. Judging by the sadistic smile on his face, he had missed, or rather, the demon had dodged them somehow.

_Stand still you bastard._

. . .

"Do you hear screaming outside?"

Spike walked up to the curtained window, and then looked back at Buffy. "Well, I _would _ look out the window, but then I remembered – no, I _don't_ want to burst into flames."

Buffy twitched her nose. "Well. We can't just sit in here. What if the others are in trouble?"

"Nothing, we watch happily, or rather not watch, from the sidelines."

She groaned in frustration. "I can't stand this. Only being able to fight at night is stupid. Vampires are stupid." She sat down on the bed and crossed her arms.

He dimly smiled. "Not so easy, is it?" Whenever the real Drusilla made a pouty face, it was usually after she threw her slippers off the balcony, or when she accidentally popped the heads off her caged birds. It was a quirky trait that both women carried, and he admired it.

"I wish this nightmare was over."

Spike's tongue touched his bottom lip. "Oh come on. It's not _all_ that bad. You liked the part with you and me. Right?"

She walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. "You're right," she said with a nod. "Before I was all with the loom and gloom, but then I told myself, Buffy, it's time to stop being miss miserable, it's time to give into my desires and be... well a little naughty." Her words were spoken with pep, as if she didn't want to say them seriously.

"Well alright then!" he said a little surprised. He slyly smiled. "Naughty is _very_ good."

She lightly slapped him on the chest. "Come on Spike. Can't this be like a nice romantic moment?"

"Sure," he said gently hugging her. He ran his fingers through her hair. "I wish I could see your goldilocks hair," he murmured.

"Oh! That's it!" She jumped and slapped both hands on him. "A wish! Wishes!"

He curiously frowned. "What? What about them."

"Anya was a vengeance demon!" her eyes were bright. "She's like a few hundred years old right? So if she was sent back into the past with us, she would end up in her body from this time."

"Yeah. So?"

"So dummy, she would have her demon powers in this century." She moved to the center of the room and readied her hands at her sides. "You wouldn't happen to know how to summon a vengeance demon would you?"

"I don't make a habit of it."

"Oh right." She stood thinking for a moment. "Anya," she shouted. "Oh Anyaaaaa... Anya it's Buffy if you can hear me..." The room was silent aside from the shouts still sounding from outside. She looked at Spike. "Maybe I have to be scorned by a man."

He raised a brow. "Well don't look at me," he said calmly.

She placed her hands on her hips. "How else are we supposed to get her attention?"

"I don't know. Think about one of your reject boyfriends. I seem to recall a whole closet full."

She scowled. She closed her eyes and tried to look really hurt about something.

He smirked. "You're thinking about Angel aren't you?"

"No," she said defensively. "Shush, let me concentrate." After a moment, the small smile on her face faded, and she opened her eyes. "Oh... oh oh... I am a sad woman in need of someone to help me inflict my vengeance upon a man!"

Spike brought a palm to his forehead.

A grey cloud flashed in the space between them, and a red haired woman appeared, wearing a fancy white dress. Her hair was done up in a bun. The demon faced Buffy.

Anya slapped her hands on her thighs. "Oh so _there_ you are!" She reverted to her human face.

"You were searching for us?" Buffy asked in a curious expression.

She half smiled and wiggled her head. "Well, no actually. I got carried away wreaking vengeance on mankind. Then I felt hurt, belonging to someone very familiar." She raised fists in excitement. "Oh I forgot how _good _I was at the vengeance!"

"Fascinating," Buffy droned. "I think something's going on outside the building. Can you teleport outside and see what's happening?"

"It is _so _weird that you ended up in Drusilla's body again. I mean, what's up with that?"

Buffy stared at her. "If I knew the answer to that, I'd be a happy camper Anya. Now if you–"

"Alright. I'm going." She waved her hand and then disappeared.

Five seconds later she reappeared, a very confused look on her face.

Buffy widened her eyes. "Well?"

"There's two demons fighting outside. Well, just one demon. The other is a very strong man. Also... quite attractive."

"Did you sense anything familiar or strange about them?" Spike asked.

"Well, the soldier is clearly under the influence of some kind of spell to be able to take a hit from the demon and not die." Her eyes narrowed. "Be right back." She disappeared again and Buffy exchanged bemused glances with Spike.

She appeared again pointing a finger in the air. "_That_, is Xander," she said quite sure of herself. "I can recognize him because of his girly screams. And also because he called out my name when he saw me."

Spike gazed at the curtained window. The light behind it suddenly dimmed. He slowly drew the curtains back and looked upward. "It's gotten cloudy and not by natural means." He squinted downward. " The beasty down there is cooken up some nasty magics."

"That puts us back in the game," Buffy said firmly.

"I finally get to beat the daylights out of something," Spike said rubbing his hands together.

Anya folded her lips in. "I should also mention that the thing down there is a Knawl demon. And from the power I'm sensing, one of the most power to have ever existed. He could be... well, in some circles, he is known as The Hand." Caution filled her tone.

Buffy's eyes widened slightly in recognition.

"You know him?" Spike asked.

Buffy kicked the bed post and grabbed the wooden splinter that fell from it. "Not yet, but I hear he's a fan."


End file.
